Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.
When Maria Torres arrived at a new job cleaning a house in Irvine, her client had a request: She needed to remove her shoes.
Torres was apprehensive about the ask, worried that without the traction of her shoes, she could have an accident. But she complied and her fear was realized. While cleaning the bathroom, she fell, hurting her head and knees. She missed several days of work as a result, losing about $900 overall, Torres said.
That was about seven years ago, and now Torres is one of multiple people who have lobbied the state legislature in recent days in support of a bill from Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, to include certain domestic workers in the state workplace protection laws.
“We really believe that everyone deserves a safe workplace. The problem is, for far too long, the workers we entrust to care for our loved ones and our homes have been marginalized and dehumanized by intentional exclusion from our work protection laws,” said Silvia Hernandez, who has worked as a housekeeper in Orange County for 13 years.
“Our workplaces are in private homes, but just like any other worker who shows up to work, we deserve protections while we are on the job,” Hernandez, 63, said in an interview with the help of a translator.
About 150 people rallied outside the Capitol on a chilly Wednesday, March 1, holding signs in English and Spanish, saying, “Everyone deserves a safe workplace.” Dozens more participated in online lobbying efforts. (Hernandez and Torres had planned to travel to Sacramento, but the recent storms prevented the trip.)
Durazo’s bill would fold certain domestic workers — like nannies, housekeepers and home care employees — into Cal/OSHA protections.
This would ensure these employees have the same legal rights as other workers to protective equipment, health and safety training and protections from retaliation for advocating for their own workplace safety, according to California Domestic Workers Coalition.
California defines a domestic worker as someone who provides care to people in homes, such as housekeepers, cooks and childcare providers, to name a few.
The advocacy group estimates there are more than 300,000 workers who fall under this category in California — including, 25,000 in Orange County.
“These domestic workers have suffered through the pandemic and through our changing climate with extreme heat and wildfire smoke without the protections guaranteed to all other occupations,” Durazo said.
Her bill does have exemptions, including publicly funded household domestic services and family daycare homes.
Earlier this year, an advisory committee comprised of domestic workers and advocates, overseen by Cal/OSHA, recommended domestic services no longer be excluded from the state labor code. It also recommended support for employers, including financial assistance for employers with fewer resources or guides on compliance.
The state already has some overtime protections for employees considered to be domestic workers.
This isn’t the first time the legislature has considered extending health and safety protections to domestic workers. In fact, legislators passed similar protections in 2020 — but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The governor said then that he supported greater workplace protections for domestic workers but believed the bill would be applicable to people who “would lack the expertise to comply with these regulations.” A “blanket extension of all employer obligations to private homeowners and renters is unworkable and raises significant policy concerns,” Newsom said in his veto letter.
Durazo’s latest bill would require Cal/OSHA to have industry protection standards in place by July 2024, and employers would need to comply with the regulations by 2025.
The bill also would create a grant program for household domestic service employers.
Nearly 92% of domestic workers in the U.S. are women, and more than half are Black, Hispanic or Asian American, according to a 2020 estimate by the Economic Policy Institute. And advocates like the California Domestic Workers Coalition contend the exclusion is rooted in racism.
“The fact that there is one categorical exclusion in our health and safety laws specifically for domestic workers is just unjust,” attorney Mariko Yoshihara, policy director with the California Employment Lawyers Association, told the Associated Press.
Both Torres and Hernandez said they’ve had housekeeping jobs that required them to do more than what they were hired to do — from watching over babies to working through extreme heat and wildfire smoke. They’ve also been exposed to illness, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Torres says she will never again work in a place that requires her to remove her shoes.
“I prefer to lose a job than expose myself and keep hurting,” Torres, now 47, said.
Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, is listed as a co-author of the bill. It was recently referred to the Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee.
In other news
• Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, is championing a Senate resolution proclaiming solidarity with the people of Iran and condemning the violence against them. Sens. Dave Min and Newman, along with Assemblymembers Phillip Chen, Cottie Petrie-Norris and Sharon Quirk-Silva are other Orange County legislators who have signed on as co-authors.
• In an effort to expand veterans services, Assemblymember Tri Ta, R-Westminster, introduced a bill that would give stipends to counties that have a veterans services officer, who works at least part-time, on active military bases.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Orange County Register
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