Domestic workers would gain new protections under Washington bill

Ana Rosa Bello broke down in tears as she recalled the repeated abuse she has endured as a housekeeper in Seattle. Bello described wage theft, discrimination, threats to her and her family, withheld documents, and being unfairly fired. But, as a single mother, she said she’s had no choice but to keep working and endure these conditions to provide for her family. “It’s difficult to talk about this,” she said in Spanish, taking a deep sigh.

When Bello started out as a housekeeper about four years ago, she said she worked independently and lived in the house where she was employed, an experience she described as isolating. Bello worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, and said she was not allowed to spend time with her family. She also said she was never paid because her employers claimed to use her salary to cover her room and board.

Bello then worked for a cleaning company where she said she continued to face abuse, like working from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a low fixed pay rate and with a lack of access to meals and breaks. Despite these conditions, she said it was an improvement from her previous job. However, when she raised some concerns to her employer, Bello said she was fired. “I was unaware of everything, I was unaware of minimum wage, unaware of what I should have been making,” Bello said.

To address situations like this and other mistreatment domestic workers can face, Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, introduced Senate Bill 5023, which would allow workers such as nannies, housekeepers, and gardeners to have access to minimum wage and overtime, workers’ compensation, meal and rest breaks, and written work agreements and terminations. “I feel like this work is what allows all the rest of us to be able to go to work,” Saldaña said. “[This bill] is making sure that the people that take care of our homes and our families and our children are also able to provide for themselves as well.”

As it stands, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law, excludes domestic, farm, and hospitality workers. Their labor has been devalued because the majority of these workers were people of color, immigrants, and women, said Danielle Alvarado, executive director of Fair Works Center. “When you have really entrenched ideas about ‘Is the work important? Is it really work?’ it’s part of how you can end up in a situation where mistreating certain workers and not giving them the same respect that you would give other workers can become normalized,” Alvarado said.

In 2018, Seattle became the first city in the country to adopt legislation that’s similar to the bill now pending in the Legislature. It was implemented in late 2019. Months later, the pandemic hit and further complicated conditions for domestic workers. Alvarado said that the rollout of the Seattle law has helped inform the state bill. Though Bello works in Seattle, she said she previously did not know about the protections in the city law.

The biggest difference in the state legislation compared to the Seattle policy is that it allows workers to retain personal effects such as legal documents and requires employers to create a written contract with workers. These provisions were added in response to input from workers who said they lacked evidence when verbal agreements weren’t met. The bill would also allow workers to file a retaliation claim against their employer with the Department of Labor and Industries. The agency could impose civil penalties up to $1,000 for each employer violation.

Democrats in the Senate passed the bill on a 29-20 vote earlier this month, with one Democrat joining Republicans in opposition. If it receives final approval this year, the new protections for workers would take effect July 1, 2026.

Republicans argue that domestic workers are independent contractors who can set their own wages and hours and that the added requirements would create a burden for those hiring the workers. “If we have all of this bureaucratic red tape that we have to go through, what kind of pressure would that put on others to hire?” said Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, in a floor speech.

Bello ​​takes pride in doing her job. “It’s something beautiful, it’s something that has helped me develop new skills such as being creative and organizing,” she said. She hopes others value domestic workers and acknowledge the rights they have both as workers and human beings. “We shouldn’t have to get to the point of abuse for our voice to matter, we shouldn’t have to get to the point where something scars us for the rest of our lives for our voice to matter,” Bello said.