BILL NUMBER: S8995

SPONSOR: RAMOS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to sick leave for domestic
workers

 
PURPOSE:

This proposal will extend paid sick leave to include domestic workers at
the state level, reflecting New York City and Westchester County law.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Amends Subdivision 1 of section 196-b of the labor law, by adding
'domestic workers' as required recipients of paid sick leave.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The New York Paid Sick Leave law guaranteeing most workers in New York
              

State access to paid sick leave passed the NY legislature and was signed
into law in 2020 and began providing workers with paid sick leave on
January 1, 2021. The law gives all New Yorkers who work for employers
who employ 5 or more employees access to paid sick leave.  Workers for
employers of fewer than 5 employees receive only unpaid sick leave
unless their employer had a net income of more than $1 million in the
previous tax year. The paid sick leave law, coming as it did during the
COVID-19 pandemic has been a lifeline for millions of New Yorkers.

The New York Paid Sick Leave law in its current form excludes most
domestic workers who are not in New York City or Westchester County from
paid sick time. The current wording of the state-wide paid sick leave
statute does not cover domestic workers in private homes for paid sick
leave purposes, only for unpaid sick leave due to the exclusion from
paid sick leave for workers who work for employers with fewer than 5
employees and a net income of $1 million or less in the previous tax
year. Both New York City and Westchester Country have passed coverage to
explicitly include 40 hours of paid sick leave for domestic workers,
which this proposal will reflect at the state level.

There is an unfortunate history of excluding domestic workers from
important labor law coverage. Much of that has been rectified but the
exclusion of this workforce from the New York State Paid Sick Leave law
is an artifact of the prejudice against including domestic workers as
real employees. Coverage of domestic workers under our labor laws is a
matter of basic equity and inclusion. Nationwide, over 90 percent of
domestic workers are women, and a majority are immigrants, Black, and
other women of color.

According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, there are 328,000 domestic
workers in New York. These workers perform essential work caring for
children, elderly loved ones, and homes, and helping people with disa-
bilities live independent lives. They are home care workers, nannies,
and house cleaners, and they comprise a large and growing workforce.
Throughout the coronavirus crisis, domestic workers have been placed
under double pressure. Already underpaid, many have lost their jobs, or
lost hours on the job, putting them under added financial stress. Even
when on the job, however, domestic workers find themselves under added
physical and psychological stress, acting as essential workers during a
pandemic at some risk to their own health as they protect the health of
others. These workers need and deserve paid sick leave.

This important revision to the New York State Paid Sick Leave law will
remedy the exclusion of domestic workers from the entitlement to paid
sick leave throughout New York State in the same way these workers have
been covered in New York City and Westchester.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.