Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Expands Overtime, Sick Leave, and Civil Rights Protections to Nannies and Home Health Aides

The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act is a massive piece of legislation aimed at bringing millions of domestic workers—think nannies, housekeepers, and home health aides—under the umbrella of federal labor protections they’ve historically been excluded from. Essentially, this bill says that if you work in someone’s home providing care or household services, you are entitled to the same basic rights as someone working in an office or factory.

The Overtime and Sick Day Upgrade

For the estimated 2.2 million people in this workforce, the biggest change is the extension of standard labor protections. Under Title I, the bill repeals the federal exemption that kept live-in domestic employees from earning overtime pay. If you’re a live-in nanny working 60 hours a week, your employer now has to pay you time-and-a-half for those 20 extra hours, just like any other worker. The bill also guarantees earned sick time, allowing workers to accrue paid leave for personal illness or family care, or even issues related to domestic violence or sexual assault. This means no more choosing between going to work sick and losing a day’s pay.

Putting It in Writing: Contracts and Scheduling

One of the biggest vulnerabilities for domestic workers is the lack of clear, written agreements, which often leads to disputes. This bill tackles that head-on by requiring a written work agreement for any domestic employee expected to work at least eight hours a week. This contract must detail pay rates, schedules, job duties, and termination policies. Think of this as getting the rules of the road down on paper, which protects both the worker and the employer from misunderstandings.

Title I also introduces fair scheduling rules. Employers must give advance notice of work hours, and if they cancel a shift with less than 72 hours’ notice, they owe the worker “reporting time pay.” This is huge for income stability, especially for home health aides who often have shifts canceled at the last minute, throwing their weekly budget into chaos. If you’re a caregiver relying on that income, this provision gives you a financial safety net against unpredictable schedules.

Civil Rights and Privacy in the Home

The bill also expands civil rights protections by explicitly including domestic employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, protecting them from employment discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin. This closes a significant loophole that left many working for small employers vulnerable to discrimination with little legal recourse. Furthermore, it addresses the unique issue of working in a private home by prohibiting surveillance in private areas like bathrooms or sleeping quarters, ensuring a basic level of dignity and privacy for live-in workers.

The Cost of Care: Who Pays?

While this is a win for workers, it does mean increased costs for families who employ domestic help. If you employ a full-time nanny or a home health aide, you’ll face new compliance requirements and higher labor costs due to overtime and sick leave. The bill recognizes this potential burden, particularly for the publicly funded care sector.

Title IV addresses this directly by providing a temporary increase in federal Medicaid funding to states for five years. This money is specifically earmarked to cover the increased costs associated with providing these new labor standards and benefits to home health aides and personal care assistants paid through Medicaid. The idea is to stabilize the essential home care workforce—which often relies on Medicaid funding—without causing states to cut services or destabilize care for the elderly and people with disabilities who rely on it.

Making the Rules Stick

This legislation isn’t just about making new rules; it’s about making sure people know them and can enforce them (Title III). It mandates the creation of a national domestic employee hotline and funds community-based grants for outreach and education. It also creates a Domestic Employee Standards Board (Title II), composed of workers and employers, to recommend new standards on safety, wages, and working conditions every three years. This mechanism ensures that the rules can evolve with the industry, rather than being static. While this board has significant power to influence future regulations, the Secretary of Labor must formally review and explain any deviation from their recommendations, keeping the process transparent.