National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

We believe in the rights for the nannies, house cleaners, and attendants we employ.

As people who hire nannies, house cleaners and home attendants, we personally experience the powerful contributions of domestic workers to our lives. They clean homes, care for our children, and ensure older family members or those of us with disabilities can live with dignity and independence: Domestic work makes all other work possible.

Our nation’s long history of racism has excluded domestic workers from labor protections. And old notions of “women’s work” has long devalued this workforce. Behind closed doors, often working without a contract, domestic workers too often struggle with wage theft, harassment and unsafe working conditions.

For even the most ethical employer, though, we lack the guidelines and guidance to ensure a fair working relationship.

Since our founding, HIH has worked in partnership with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and other local domestic worker organizations to advocate for Domestic Workers Bills of Rights.

Bill of Rights laws have already passed in 9 states and one city, ensuring that the women who support us, our families, and our homes have protections and rights to which other workers are entitled. They also provide clear guidance to domestic employers about our roles and responsibilities.

Nationwide legislation

In July 2019, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced the first ever National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which will establish and enforce rights for millions of nannies, house cleaners and home attendants in the U.S.

The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will ensure that domestic workers have access to common workplace protections such as overtime pay, safe and healthy working conditions, paid rest and meal breaks, earned sick time and freedom from harassment.

The Bill will also create new protections that are unique to the domestic workforce such as written agreements, fair scheduling, support for survivors of sexual harassment, and a domestic workers wage and standards board.

Join the movement for the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights by signing our petition. People who hire domestic workers play an important role in changing these laws, because you know how important care and support in the home is to our lives.

Has a nanny, house cleaner, or home attendant been part of your life?

Your voice matters in this campaign!

Start here by using this toolkit to look at your own story, and then use that story to make a powerful contribution to the chorus of voices calling for change.