Governor Brown Vetoes Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

As Kevin Johnson pointed out earlier today, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the TRUST Act yesterday. Disappointingly, he also vetoed another important piece of legislation, the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights AB889:

From Fox News Latino:

On the same day California gave some undocumented immigrants the right to get drivers licenses, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have provided overtime pay, meal breaks and other labor protections to an estimated 200,000 caregivers, nannies and house cleaners.

Brown called their work a “noble endeavor” and said they deserve fair pay and safe working conditions.

But the Democratic governor said the bill “raises a number of unanswered questions,” prompting him to reject the measure. It was among dozens of bills sent to him by the Legislature that he acted on in the final hours before his midnight deadline.

    I find it more prudent to do the studies before considering an untested legal regime for those that work in our homes.

– California Gov. Jerry Brown

Advocates said the legislation, dubbed the Domestic Workers of Bill of Rights, is necessary to protect a primarily female, immigrant workforce from abuse. They were successful in persuading New York lawmakers to pass similar legislation in 2010.

Among other things, the bill would have required that live-in workers be compensated if their rest period was interrupted during an eight-hour period and eased eligibility requirements for workers’ compensation.

The California Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed AB889. They argued that labor laws carve out an exception for domestic workers for a reason: providing meal breaks and uninterrupted rest periods for caretakers is impractical at best and dangerous at worst. Read more…

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