Oakland, CA — Domestic workers employed by businesses in California are now covered by the state’s workplace safety and health laws.
The protections apply to housecleaners, caregivers and gardeners, among others, according to a California Division of Occupational Safety and Health press release. Any organization that employs household domestic service workers on a temporary or permanent basis is considered an employer.
Responsibilities of covered employers include:
- Establishing, implementing and maintaining an effective injury and illness prevention program.
- Inspecting workplaces to identify, evaluate and correct hazards.
- Ensuring workers have, use and properly maintain safe tools and equipment.
- Providing and paying for personal protective equipment when mandated by law.
- Reporting serious injuries and fatalities to Cal/OSHA immediately.
Individual homeowners or renters who hire domestic workers aren’t considered employers and, in most cases, are exempt from these requirements.
Cal/OSHA says workers should expect safe and healthy working conditions, training on workplace hazards and their rights, access to their employers’ injury and illness prevention plan, and the right to ask their employer to correct unsafe conditions and hazards.
“Domestic workers take on some of the hardest jobs,” Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said in the release. “They deserve the same protections as any other worker.”
