She also served on a statewide committee including workers and experts that developed voluntary safety guidelines for the home as a workplace. ROMERO: Boris hires a housecleaner herself. ROMERO: Professor Eileen Boris studies the history of domestic workers and teaches at the University of California Santa Barbara.īORIS: Second, this is considered work that is the obligations of wives, mothers and daughters, so why should it be paid or considered worthy work? There are a couple of reasons why.ĮILEEN BORIS: First was the legacy of slavery, in which women of African descent were defined as domestic workers and did not need to be paid. But occupational safety and health regulators say the state's labor code gives them jurisdiction over most workers except for those in household domestic service. These mostly immigrant women often report getting hurt or sick on the job from things like toxic cleaning chemicals or contagious illnesses. In California, employers of the state's 360,000 domestic workers are not obligated to take steps to keep workers safe. She figures they didn't know about the dangers. ROMERO: Diaz says she doesn't fault her employers. After days of handling and breathing in the residue without a proper mask or gloves, she says her skin itched. ROMERO: When Diaz arrived, she found the house full of ash. They asked her to clean their home, still standing in an otherwise incinerated neighborhood. From member station KQED, Farida Jhabvala Romero explains.įARIDA JHABVALA ROMERO, BYLINE: About a week after a massive wildfire tore through parts of Santa Rosa in 2017, Socorro Diaz got a call from one of her clients. House cleaners, nannies and home care aides have historically been excluded from labor laws protecting most employees. New safety guidelines published in California are the first in the nation that specifically cover domestic workers.
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