Univision’s Preimer Impacto profiles the story of Adriana Moreno, a home care worker from Colombia, who was cheated out of her wages.  With the help of NELP and NY-based law firms Getman Sweeny and Abbey Spanier, Moreno has brought a class action lawsuit against her home care agency to recover her pay and bring justice for her and hundreds of her coworkers.

FILED UNDER: Domestic/Homecare Workers | Litigation

The National Domestic Workers' Alliance has released a new report, titled Home Economics: The Invisible and Unregulated World of Domestic Work, the first national survey of domestic workers in the USA.

This empirically based and representative picture of domestic employment in 21st century America breaks new ground by providing an empirically based and representative picture of domestic employment in 21st century America. The report surveyed over 2,000 domestic workers on issues including pay rates, benefits, and their impact on the lives of workers and their families; employment arrangements and employers’ compliance with employment agreements; workplace conditions, on-the-job injuries, and access to health care; and abuse at work and the ability to remedy substandard conditions.

Not surprisingly, the report found that substandard working conditions are pervasive in the domestic work industry. Wage rates are low, the work is often hazardous, and workers rarely have effective recourse to improve substandard conditions.

The report was prepared with support from the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Chicago and the DataCenter.

FILED UNDER: Domestic/Homecare Workers

Statement of Christine Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project

The National Employment Law Project is deeply disappointed by Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision, announced Sunday, to veto the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.  This important bill would have extended basic labor protections to nearly 200,000 domestic workers—protections enjoyed by most other workers in California.  The veto is not the end of the story, however.  Domestic workers and their allies in California and around the nation will continue to fight until all caregivers, nannies, and other domestic workers get the protection and respect they deserve.

FILED UNDER: Domestic/Homecare Workers | Legislation

Governor Vetoes CA Domestic Worker Bill of Rights [SF Chronicle]

CA Governor Also Vetoes CA TRUST Act—“Arizonification” of the State [NY Times]

Undocumented Status Doesn’t Foil Worker’s Claim for Fall from Work [Risk and Insurance]

Deportation Deferrals Put Employers of Immigrants in Bind [NY Times]

Hispanic Workers in North Carolina Hit by Wage Theft Epidemic [Hispanically Speaking]

FILED UNDER: DHS/ICE | Domestic/Homecare Workers | Legislation | Workers’ Compensation

Washington, DC – Wage-and-hour reforms for home care workers that have been years in the making are finally nearing the finish line.  Today, home care workers and their employers and allies are joining together on Capitol Hill and at Congressional  offices around the nation, as part of the Direct Care Alliance’s National Day of Action for Home Care Workers, to urge their elected representatives to support reforms that would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. 

“These reforms that extend basic minimum wage and overtime coverage to caregivers are long overdue,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.  “These essential caregivers get our grandmothers out of bed in the morning and ensure our disabled neighbors live as independently as possible.  Excluding millions of home care workers from federal minimum wage protections undermines their work, the care consumers receive, and the economy.”

FILED UNDER: Domestic/Homecare Workers