Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan of Virginia joined Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington and 121 House colleagues to introduce the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
The legislation would extend crucial workplace protections to domestic workers across the United States.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico introduced the Senate companion legislation.
“For more than 400 years, the American economy was built on the backs of domestic workers – first through slavery, then through low-wage jobs lacking worker protections that most Americans enjoy. I come from a family of domestic workers, so I know firsthand the incredible contributions they make to families, communities, the economy, and our nation,” McClellan said. “Despite their invaluable impacts, domestic workers, who are predominantly women of color, were exempted from worker protections such as minimum wage, overtime pay, and anti-discrimination laws. While in the Virginia General Assembly, I championed passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights to address these long-standing inequities in 2020 and 2021. Today, I am excited to build on that progress and fight to extend those protections to domestic workers nationwide.”
The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights addresses critical gaps in the current labor protection framework, including:
- Extending access to common workplace protections to domestic workers, such as paid overtime, paid sick days, and freedom from discrimination and harassment.
- Improving job quality by implementing new protections for domestic workers like written agreements, privacy protections, and more.
- Increasing Medicaid funding for home and health care services.
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Rebecca Barnabi
