The "Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act" lays out the protections and rights for domestic workers, such as ensuring fair wages, scheduling practices, and civil rights protections against discrimination. It includes sections on standards, benefits, and implementation to support domestic employees and enforcement mechanisms to uphold these laws.

Congress finds that domestic work is critical to the economy, yet domestic employees, many of whom are women, people of color, and immigrants, face low wages, poor working conditions, and limited legal protections. These workers are often excluded from labor laws, experience wage theft, and lack access to benefits, which exacerbates issues like discrimination and high turnover, affecting both the quality of care they provide and their own well-being.

The document provides definitions for various terms used in the context of the Act, such as "child," "disability," "domestic partner," and "domestic services." It also outlines specific meanings for roles and terms related to caregiving and employment, like "domestic employee," "family child care provider," and "personal care services," while referencing other federal laws for certain legal definitions.

The Secretary is given the power to create rules to help enforce this law.

For the purposes of the Act, any work done by a domestic worker for their employer is considered to influence commerce.

The section removes the exemption for live-in domestic workers from overtime pay protections previously outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

The section amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to give written notice and either provide lodging or severance pay when terminating live-in domestic employees, unless there are allegations of abuse or neglect. It also mandates that employers must allow these employees reasonable access to communication services like phone and internet.

In this section, a live-in domestic employee is defined as someone working and living in a household. Employment termination requires the employer to provide written notice within 48 hours and either 30 days of lodging or severance pay equal to two weeks' earnings. Exceptions apply if there are good faith allegations of misconduct. Additionally, employers must ensure these employees have access to communication services like the internet and phone, either within the household or at another location if the services are unavailable at home.

The section of the bill modifies the Fair Labor Standards Act to establish new penalties and enforcement measures for violations of labor provisions, specifically adding new liabilities for employers that do not comply with section 8, which includes paying severance and other damages. It also updates the statute of limitations for related claims, ensuring the law covers these amendments.

Under this section, employers must provide a written agreement to domestic employees working at least 8 hours per week. This agreement, written in plain language, should include job details, pay, work schedule, benefits, and safety policies, and cannot include clauses like forced arbitration or nondisclosure agreements.

In this section, the bill outlines the rules for domestic employees to earn paid sick days. It defines key terms like "domestic violence" and "victim services organization," explains how sick leave can be accrued and used, and describes the documentation needed for various types of absences, ensuring confidentiality and compatibility with existing laws.

The section outlines fair scheduling practices for domestic employees, requiring employers to provide advance notice of work hours and compensating workers if shifts are changed or canceled with less than 72 hours' notice. It allows employees to decline schedule changes without penalty and recognizes exceptions due to emergencies or natural disasters.

In this section, a "covered domestic employee" is granted the right to request temporary changes to their work schedule because of personal events, like serving as a caregiver or attending a legal proceeding, and employers are required to accommodate such requests by allowing alterations to work hours for up to two workdays per year. These adjustments can involve using paid time off, trading hours, or short-term unpaid leave, and the provision will take effect two years after the law is enacted.

Employers are not allowed to monitor or record their domestic employees in private areas like restrooms and living quarters or during personal activities such as dressing. They also cannot interfere with the employees' private communications unless those communications are affecting work duties. Employers can set reasonable limits on private communications during work, and this section doesn't override any other legal responsibilities.

Employers must provide domestic employees with a 30-minute meal break for every 5 hours of work and a 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours of work, unless it is a shared living arrangement or the employee is unable to leave their duties due to safety concerns, in which case the break can be taken on-duty with compensation and mutual written agreement.

Employers are not allowed to take money from a domestic worker's paycheck or ask them to pay back for things like cash shortages or broken items. They also can't penalize workers for talking with clients directly instead of using a company-provided app. If any deductions are made against these rules, they count as unpaid wages, and the worker can claim them back.

The section prohibits any person or employer from interfering with or retaliating against a domestic employee who exercises their rights, particularly in matters of employment conditions or immigration status. It outlines specific unlawful actions, including discrimination, retaliation, and misuse of immigration status, and establishes a presumption of retaliation if detrimental actions occur within 90 days of an employee asserting their rights.

The section outlines the enforcement authority related to domestic employees, detailing the Secretary's powers to investigate and resolve violations, the ability of domestic employees to take civil action against employers for damages, and the processes for handling such cases. It also explains the roles of different government bodies and courts in these cases and the specific time limits for taking action on violations.

The section ensures that nothing in this subtitle will override existing employment agreements or benefits that offer better terms than those established by this Act. It also clarifies that employers must continue to obey other laws or agreements that provide greater employee benefits, cannot limit state or local laws offering superior benefits, and prohibits any waivers of rights by employees through agreements or employment conditions.

The section of the bill updates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections against employment discrimination for domestic employees, meaning that people who hire domestic workers must also follow non-discrimination laws.

The Domestic Employee Standards Board is established to improve the welfare of domestic workers in the U.S. It comprises 11 members representing employees and employers and is responsible for recommending workplace standards to the Secretary of Labor. The board must meet regularly, hold public hearings, and issue recommendations on improving worker conditions, which may lead to new rules or laws. Members may receive travel expenses, and the board can gather information from federal agencies and the public. The board's recommendations cannot reduce any rights or benefits domestic employees presently have by law or contract.

The section outlines a mandate for the Secretary to conduct a study on how to improve access to common employment benefits like retirement plans and health insurance for domestic employees. The study will explore barriers, the portability of benefits, state innovations, comparisons with other employees' benefits access, and recommendations for reforms to ensure domestic employees can secure these benefits even if they have multiple employers.

In this section, the bill defines important terms related to domestic workers' rights. It explains the meaning of the "domestic workers bill of rights," outlines who qualifies as an "eligible entity" to engage with domestic employees, and describes what is included in a "notice of domestic employee rights."

The section outlines that the Secretary must create a notice detailing the rights of domestic employees, including protections under the domestic workers bill of rights and other federal laws. This notice should be made available online in multiple languages and a dedicated webpage summarizing these rights must be established on the Department of Labor's website within 180 days of the law's enactment.

The section establishes an Interagency Task Force on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Enforcement, which includes representatives from various federal agencies. Its duties include identifying challenges domestic workers face when enforcing their rights, developing enforcement recommendations, supporting joint federal enforcement, conducting audits of enforcement strategies, and advising on community-based enforcement projects.

The section outlines that the Secretary will give a grant competitively to an eligible organization to create a national hotline. This hotline is for domestic employees to call if they need help with any issue related to their work.

The section outlines a program where the Secretary of Labor, consulting with the Interagency Task Force, can award grants to community organizations to enhance and enforce domestic employee rights. These grants support efforts to educate domestic workers and their employers about legal rights, assist workers in filing claims, and ensure compliance with domestic worker laws.

The section requires the Secretary to create a rule within one year of the Act's enactment that promotes the use of fiscal intermediaries to facilitate payments between domestic workers and their employers, aiming to improve transparency, enforcement, and working conditions.

The section outlines that within a year, regulations must be developed to apply rights and protections to domestic employees like personal care aides who provide Medicaid-funded services, ensuring protections like paid sick time without causing financial burden on those self-directing their care. It specifies the types of services covered, including home health care and community-based services, while ensuring states do not cut Medicaid assistance for these services due to the new protections.

The section states that enforcement of certain rules in the act is delayed for two years for government agencies and programs funded through government contracts or grants. The Secretary can extend this delay by an additional year if deemed necessary, and domestic employees paid through Medicaid for certain services are protected from civil actions under this delay.

The section proposes a temporary increase in the Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid services provided by domestic workers, as defined in the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act. This increase aims to cover the cost of new labor protections for domestic employees and will be available to states for a specific 20-quarter period, provided that states do not make their eligibility criteria more restrictive during this time.

The section authorizes the allocation of funds as needed to implement the Act and the changes it introduces.

If any part of this law or its amendments is found to be invalid, the rest of the law and its amendments will still remain in effect and continue to apply to everyone else.