Metro D.C. CLUW is currently supporting advocacy efforts led by D.C. domestic workers and the D.C. chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance as they work to get B24-0712, the Domestic Workers Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022, passed by the D.C. Council.

LATEST UPDATE: On Dec. 20, the DC Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passed its second and final vote of the DC Council! Viva los trabajadores del hogar! Congratulations to DC's domestic workers who have fought long and hard for this critical legislation. This is only the beginning!

LATEST UPDATE: On Dec. 6, the first reading of the Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022 was read before the full council. It passed unanimously! The next step is the final reading on Dec. 20.

LATEST UPDATE: On Nov. 17, B24-0712, the Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022, passed unanimously out of Councilmember McDuffie's Business and Economic Development Committee! You can watch the vote here. Next up is two votes before the full council. These are expected to take place on Tues., Dec. 6 and Tues., Dec. 20.

LATEST UPDATE: Exciting news on this issue! The DC Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will be marked up by the Business and Economic Development committee on Nov. 17 at 10:30am! This is the third and final mark-up that the bill needs before it can be voted on twice before the full council.

The Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act is the 5th of 5 bills that will be marked up. You can tune in by watching the live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbFwXXcbCuQk3-zlwqe97mA/streams or https://kenyanmcduffieward5.wpcomstaging.com/live-events/.

UPDATE: On Oct.21, 2022, two committees in the DC Council unanimously voted to advance the DC Domestic Workers Bill of Rights! This is BIG NEWS. We have never been this close to winning equal protections for domestic workers under DC law.

In Washington DC, domestic workers are the only group of workers excluded from DC’s Human Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination on the job. 9,040 domestic workers work in Washington DC.

A Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in DC would include domestic workers, many of whom regularly experience sexual harassment, wage theft, and other forms of workplace discrimination, in basic legal rights.

Domestic work is one of the most important and fastest growing jobs in the country, yet it is some of the most unprotected and vulnerable work, excluded from basic labor rights and protections and primarily done by women of color and immigrants.

Of the 9,040 domestic workers working in DC:

• 92% are women

• 91% are people of color

• 71% are immigrants

The median annual earnings for a domestic worker in DC is $25,888.

In Washington DC, domestic workers are subject to wage theft, workplace discrimination, unstable schedules, lack of access to basic workplace benefits, and more.

Domestic workers are the only group of workers excluded from DC’s Human Rights Act. This exclusion is a remnant of a long legacy of racism that dates back to slavery. The exclusion from DC’s Human Rights Act reflects the federal exclusions of domestic workers from several bedrock workplace protections passed in the 1930s. Domestic workers were intentionally excluded from these protections in order to gain the votes of southern lawmakers, who did not want to include the overwhelmingly Black workforce that did domestic work at the time.