Domestic worker
An app would let domestic workers accrue pay they’re owed — but in practice rarely get — to take sick days or care for loved ones.
Child care work, mostly done by women and women of color, offers little workplace protections. And the pandemic has only made nannies more vulnerable.
Millions of essential workers who are undocumented get no money from Congress’ COVID-19 bill, even as they work on the front lines in grocery stores, farm work and more.
Over one-third of house cleaners still had no work as of September, per a nationwide survey — four times the rate of reported joblessness before COVID-19.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The coronavirus pandemic, combined with systemic racism, leaves house cleaners, nannies and other home care workers especially vulnerable.
The government left out some of the most vulnerable workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are literally being put up against a wall and making a choice between life and death, between working and eating or not working and not eating."
One house cleaner lost all her clients. Another is worried about being infected if she goes to work. Neither will get paid if they stay home.
The legislation would ensure basic workplace standards for nannies and house cleaners, including overtime pay and protection from sexual harassment.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass) introduced the Be Heard Act, sweeping legislation to address workplace harassment.