On Tuesday, May 7, 2013 the Oregon House of Representatives voted 32-28 to pass a domestic workers’ rights bill sponsored by Rep. Sara Gelser (D-16). The bill, which has now had a first hearing in the Senate, would require people who employ domestic workers to:
- pay overtime at 1.5 times the worker’s base salary for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours a week, or 44 hours a week if the domestic worker lives in the employer’s home.
- provide the worker 24 consecutive hours of rest each week. If the employee agrees to work on the rest day, the employer would need to pay overtime.
- provide the domestic worker with eight hours of uninterrupted sleep during each 24-hour period, if the worker lives in the employer’s home.
- provide the worker with three paid personal leave days off after one year of employment.
Read more about it in The Oregonian and hear what Rep. Gelser has to say about this bill and valuing women’s work generally (recorded at our May 8th Mother’s Day of Action):
Video by T.A. Barnhart.