Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Clayton SinyaiJune 07, 2015

Some of the most basic labor protections in American life – the minimum wage and overtime pay – were established in 1938 when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. But contrary to popular belief, Congress excluded certain categories of workers from coverage. Among these were domestic workers: housekeepers, maids and childcare workers who work (and sometimes live) in the homes of their employers.

Typically immigrant women, these workers occupy a central role in an economy increasingly organized around two-income families. All too often, however, they work grueling hours for low pay, without sick leave or personal time to tend to their own needs and those of their own families.

That’s why I was so happy to receive a note from ARISE, a Chicago-area interfaith worker advocacy group, announcing that the Illinois house had passed a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. The law requires employers of domestic help to create a basic written contract laying out the worker’s duties, pay and schedule; pay the minimum wage (and time-and-a-half after 40 hours); and permit the employee a meal break if working a full day.

The National Domestic Workers Alliance has been campaigning for such laws across America for years. If approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor, Illinois will join New York, Hawaii, California and Massachusetts in the ranks of states that have extended these critical labor protections to some of our most vulnerable workers.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

As we enter into Holy Week, join America Media for a subscriber-only virtual event with James Martin, S.J., and ‘Jesuitical’ hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless.
America StaffApril 01, 2025
“Having a sensory room in a place of worship is probably more important than anywhere else because everyone should feel welcome in their faith.”
Sean QuinnApril 01, 2025
Sports hasn't always been the most popular topic among America's editors and contributors—unless it was the Grand Old Game, baseball.
James T. KeaneApril 01, 2025
A joint Catholic-Evangelical report found that an overwhelming majority of people impacted by the Trump administration's mass deportations are Christian.