The Honorable Bobby Scott
Chairman
House Committee on Education & Labor
2176 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Scott,

The more than 2 million domestic workers across the United States include the nanny that you entrust with your children when you go to work, the housecleaner who brings order to your home, and the home care worker who ensures our elders age with dignity and our loved ones with disabilities have the support they need. Domestic workers do the work that makes all other work possible.

Many of us writing to you today employ domestic workers in our homes and count on the their work in order to do our own jobs. We write in strong support of HR 3760, the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which was introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal in July 2019 and referred to your committee. This bill is an innovative, comprehensive framework that would transform domestic work jobs into high quality, family-sustaining jobs.

We urge you to hold a hearing on this bill as soon as possible. As domestic employers and supporters, we value the work of the nannies, house cleaners and home attendants in our lives. We believe that protections and rights benefit employers because they create clear guidelines on managing the work in our homes.

The fight for domestic workers to achieve basic workplace protections is long overdue. Housecleaners, nannies, and caregivers have been historically excluded from bedrock labor protections that other workers are entitled to for gendered and racialized reasons that date back to slavey. Some domestic workers continue to be excluded from the federal guarantee of overtime pay. In many states, domestic workers have no recourse if they are harassed or discriminated against by their employer because they are not covered by the protection against employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

As a primarily women of color workforce, the need for basic protections against employment discrimination is a matter of civil rights and a matter of racial and gender justice.

We urge you to lead the way in righting historical wrongs and supporting a future where domestic work jobs are valued, family supporting jobs by prioritizing a hearing on the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

Sincerely,