And because they are usually excluded from labor law protections, they are often underpaid, have their wages stolen, work in hazardous job settings, or are physically abused.
The Illinois legislation would ensure that workers who are regularly employed at least eight hours a week in domestic jobs be covered by the state’s minimum-wage law and the One Day Rest in Seven Act, which requires that employees get at least 24 hours of rest in each calendar week plus a meal period of 20 minutes for every 7.5-hour shift. In addition to other protections offered to most employees in the state, these workers would be covered by the state’s Human Rights Act, which protects against sexual harassment.
“What’s astonishing to me is all the years that these workers have been left out of the most basic protections that most employees take for granted since the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed 80 years ago,” said Melissa Josephs, the director of equal-opportunity policy at Women Employed, a Chicago-based advocacy group. She said Illinois is now the sixth state, in addition to California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Oregon and New York, to protect domestic workers.
“It definitely shows that people are taking this work seriously,” Josephs said. “I mean, you ask anyone who does this work and they will attest to the fact that they put in hard hours. But a lot of people who hire others to clean their house or take care of a family member didn’t see it as a full-time job. But if you’re not doing it yourself, you have to consider it a professional job.”
‘Some quality of life’
Magdalena Zylinska, a housecleaner and board member of Arise Chicago, one of the many groups that came together to press for the legal amendments, explained how thorny it can be when you work in someone’s home, well out of sight of anyone who can ensure your well-being.
“When I came from Poland, I started out working as a live-in caregiver and it was an all-day, seven-day-a-week commitment, and at that point it’s not just about money, it’s about having some rest, some quality of life,” Zylinska said. “The work itself is stressful and demanding, especially if you are taking care of someone. But what if you’re being paid $200 a week plus room and board but there’s no food in the refrigerator, or no heat? The working conditions can be very poor.”
The potential for abuse is high — especially for women who are the sole providers for their children or for family in a home country, and who may not be fluent in the language or have any resources where they work to ask for help.
The people who take care of our homes, kids or our ailing loved ones deserve to get better working conditions. If we entrust them with our families, they’re well worth it.