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Committee hears bill to extend minimum-wage, overtime and other basic labor protections to domestic workers
Summary
Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 50-23 would apply core labor protectionsminimum wage, overtime, sick leave, written agreements, anti-retaliation and recordkeepingto domestic workers and expand certain anti-discrimination protections; proponents described workers' precarious conditions and employers' uncertainty, while the committee noted
The Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on March 18 heard engrossed substitute Senate Bill 50-23, companion to a House bill, a comprehensive package that would apply minimum-wage, overtime, meal and rest break, recordkeeping and anti-retaliation protections to domestic workers and make additional changes to state law to close current coverage gaps.
Staff described the bill as applying to domestic workers such as nannies, house cleaners, home care workers, cooks, gardeners and household managers while excluding casual babysitters, dog walkers and narrowly defined casual labor. The bill defines a "hiring entity" broadly as any employer or person who pays for domestic services or acts in the interest of the hiring entity. Key employer obligations in the bill include paying at least the minimum hourly wage and overtime, allowing uninterrupted meal and rest breaks, permitting domestic workers to prepare and eat their own food subject to reasonable restrictions, maintaining records of hours, pay and leave, and providing written employment agreements with specified terms. The bill would also require advance notice before termination (two weeks generally, four weeks for live-in workers) and provide severance pay when notice rules are not followed.
Proponents said the bill fills long-standing gaps that leave domestic workers unprotected from wage theft, unsafe working conditions and exploitation. Danielle Alvarado of the Fair Work Center, representing the Washington Domestic Worker Coalition, said the policy is "focused on the basics" and is intended to bring domestic workers into parity with other workers. Kim England and other testifiers described domestic workers who enabled families to work and said written agreements and predictable standards would help both workers and employers.
The bill would also remove a narrow exemption in Washington's Minimum Wage Act that excludes persons who sleep or reside at their job, extending minimum wage, overtime and sick-leave protections to certain live-in domestic workers. The bill modifies the Washington Law Against Discrimination to apply to hiring entities regardless of employee count and requires L&I to convene a work group to study industrial insurance models for domestic workers.
Why it matters: Domestic workers provide services that allow other Washington residents to work and care for family members; the bill would extend statutory labor protections to a historically excluded workforce and create new employer obligations and enforcement mechanisms.
Committee action: Supporters emphasized the bill is the product of coalition negotiations and that it does not create a general-fund fiscal note; the committee received proponent testimony and closed the hearing without taking an immediate vote.
