New State Law Makes Part-Time Domestic Help Eligible for Disability Benefits

A change in state law that just took effect  requires some households to provide disability benefits for domestic workers. The law extends a number of protections to domestic workers, including minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, the right to at least one day of rest per week, coverage under the anti-discrimination law and collective bargaining rights. One provision changes the state disability benefits law to cover domestic workers working less than 40 hours per week for the same employer. However, this coverage does not apply to every employee who works for a household. 

The disability benefits law covers:

• an employer of one or more persons on each of 30 days in any calendar year four weeks after the 30th day of such employment; and
• employees or recent employees of a covered employer, who have worked at least four consecutive weeks.

Therefore, a household becomes responsible for providing disability benefits four weeks after it has employed one or more domestic workers for 30 days. Employees become eligible after they have worked four consecutive weeks for that household. In addition, according to a fact sheet on the state Department of Labor’s website, the new law does not cover domestic workers:

• employed by an agency;
• who work on a casual basis as part-time baby-sitters in the home of their employers; or
• who are relatives of their employers or of the person(s) for whom they offer care.

The Labor Department has more information on its website. The law was effective Nov. 29.