WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 6, 2022 7
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Hochul signs Queens lawmaker’s historic
bills to protect domestic workers into law
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Two landmark bills introduced by
state Assemblywoman Jenifer
Rajkumar to expand benefi ts
and protections for hundreds of thousands
of domestic workers in New
York state were recently signed into
law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“With a new year comes a new era of
dignity and respect for our domestic
workers. They are a cornerstone of
our economy and our society,” Rajkumar
said. “By caring for our children,
our aging parents and our loved ones
with disabilities, they allow so many
of us the fl exibility to pursue careers.
Domestic workers deserve the same
freedom from discrimination and
harassment aff orded anyone at an offi
ce desk. Now, for the fi rst time, our
state’s Human Rights Law will provide
them the same rights and protections
as other workers. Domestic workers,
overwhelmingly women of color
and immigrant women, will now be
treated with dignity and respect.”
Rajkumar’s fi rst bill, A8007, writes
domestic workers into the Human
Rights Law of New York State. Domestic
workers will now be protected
from workplace harassment
and discrimination just like other
workers. Before now, the New York
State Human Rights Law excluded
domestic workers from almost all its
protections.
Rajkumar’s second bill, A6077A,
extends paid family leave benefi ts to
domestic workers. Domestic workers
who work at least 20 hours per week
will now be entitled to paid family
leave and temporary disability
insurance. Previously, they needed
to work at least 40 hours, despite a
20-hour minimum applying to all
other industries.
“Just as domestic workers provide
care for us, we must provide them the
paid leave they need if they or their
loved ones are sick,” Rajkumar said.
Rajkumar’s bills extend vitally
needed benefi ts and safeguards to a
workforce that has historically been
overlooked and under-protected.
Domestic work is one of the
Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar File photo by Paul Frangipane
fastest growing industries in the
United States, with over 300,000
domestic workers and 2.7 million
households relying on them in New
York state alone, according to the
National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Working informally and behind
closed doors, domestic workers are
vulnerable to exploitation, harassment
and discrimination.
This vulnerability disproportionately
aff ects immigrant women and
women of color, who overwhelmingly
make up the domestic workforce. In
New York state, 93% of domestic workers
are women, 69% are immigrants,
and 30% are African American.
Ai-jen Poo, co-founder and executive
director of the National Domestic
Workers Alliance, said aft er generations
of exclusion, domestic workers
in New York, overwhelmingly women
and majority women of color, will
fi nally have protections under the
state’s Human Rights Law.
“This historic breakthrough supports
the dignity of some of the most
isolated and undervalued workers in
the state, thanks to the leadership of
Assemblywoman Rajkumar and to
the determination of domestic workers
who have organized for over two
decades to see this progress,” Poo said.
Illana Berger, the New York director
and strategic adviser for Handin
Hand: The Domestic Employers
Network, thanked Rajkumar for her
commitment to empowering domestic
workers and for leading the way in
New York.
“Domestic workers are New York’s
essential workers and have faced multiple
forms of discrimination without
legal recourse or government representation
for so long,” Berger said.
“Assemblywoman Rajkumar’s bills
fi nally give domestic workers these
long overdue protections and rights.”
Cynthia Terrell, founder and executive
director of Represent Women,
and Annetta Seecharan, executive
director of CHHAYA Community
Development Corporation, applauded
Rajkumar and Hochul on the signing
of the historic legislation.
“As a true champion for women’s
rights, the assemblywoman understands
the need for fair treatment for
a workforce that is so overwhelmingly
women,” Terrell said. “This legislative
package is exactly the type of innovation
needed to create opportunities
for all of us to succeed.”
According to Seecharan, domestic
workers are the backbone of communities,
who do the most essential work.
“It’s time they are protected and
guaranteed the rights as every other
worker in our state,” Seecharan said.
Newly elected Mayor of New York
City Eric Adams hailed the new laws,
as he recalled his late mother’s job as
a house cleaner and cook.
“I know the challenges domestic
workers face fi rsthand. There were
times she had to choose between
taking care of her children and
putting food on the table,” Adams
said. “Thanks to Assembly member
Rajkumar, there is hope for families
like mine. It’s time for domestic workers
to be treated with the dignity and
respect they deserve under the law,
and I look forward to partnering
with Assemby member Rajkumar
to continue supporting them and all
working-class New Yorkers.”
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