B 24-0712 — Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022

ENGROSSEDENROLLED ORIGINAL AAN BILLACT 3___________ 24-712   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 7 ____________________________   To require a services contract when a hiring entity employs a domestic worker as its employee or engages a domestic worker who is an independent contractor, to specify what information must be provided and may not be included in the services contract, to specify when translations and modifications of the services contract are required, to require referral agencies to provide information to hiring entities and domestic workers, to require the Mayor to create services contract templates, to require the Mayor to post certain information online for the benefit of hiring entities and domestic workers, to require the Attorney General to issue grants to community based organizations to develop certain educational materials for domestic workers and hiring entities, including safety and health information, to specify the powers of the Mayor and Attorney General to enforce Title I, to specify the procedures for filing administrative and civil complaints for violations of Title I;

to amend the District of Columbia Human Rights Act of 1977 to eliminate the exclusion of domestic servants from its protections,protections and to clarify the application of other provisions to domestic work arrangements;

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (1) “Casual basis” means occurring at irregular, uncertain, or incidental times and differing in nature from the type of paid work in which the worker is customarily engaged.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (A) Child care, except work performed by the employee of a child development facility, as defined in section 2(3) of the Child Development Facilities Regulation Act of 1997, effective April 13, 1999 (D.C.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (B) An individual who primarily performs household repairs or constructionconstruction, such as plumbing, masonry, painting, renovating, or similar construction work;

(6) “Hiring entity”:entity” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or other entity, person, or group that employs or seeks to employ or engages or seeks to engage an individual to perform domestic services in the District for 5 or more hours in a calendar month.

(A)The Meansterm an“hiring individual,entity” partnership,does association,not corporation,include businessthe trust,customer orof othera entity,domestic person,services oragency group that employs or seeksan toagency, employbranch, or engagesinstrumentality orof seeksa tostate, engage an individual to perform domestic services in the DistrictDistrict, for 5 or morethe hoursUnited inStates agovernment. calendar month;

and (B) Does not mean:

(i) The customer of a domestic services agency;

or (ii) An agency, branch, or instrumentality of a state, the District, or the United States government.

(8) “Referral agency” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any entity, person, or group, other than a hiring entity, that, as a primary ENGROSSED ORIGINAL function of its business, connects prospective or current hiring entities and domestic workers to facilitate domestic services.

(10) “Shared services” means domestic services that a single domestic worker performs, often simultaneously,simultaneously for the mutual benefit of 2 or more hiring entities on a regular ENROLLED ORIGINAL schedule, such as when 2 families employ a single caregiver to provide shared childcare for the families’ children during the traditional work week.

(a) A hiring entity shall execute a services contract with a domestic worker no later than the first day a domestic worker is expected to perform work for a hiring entity, or, if the hiring entity employs or engages a domestic worker as of the applicability date of this section, within 30 calendar days after the applicability date of this section.

(b)(1) An executed services contract shall includeinclude: the following:

(B) If known, the end date of contract;

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (C) The address where work will usually be performed or the business address that the hiring entity registered with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection;

(D) The primary contact information for the hiring entity, including a telephone number;

and ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (N) For live-in domestic workers, a description of the type and value of lodging provided, time of sleeping period, and personal time allotment.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (3) A hiring entity and domestic worker may execute a services contract in identical documents,documents; which shall have the same force and effect as a single document bearing the signatures of all parties.

which identical documents shall have the same force and effect as a single document bearing the signatures of all parties.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (2) A provision in an executed services contract that paragraph (1) of this subsection prohibits shall be void as a matter of law.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (A) A hiring entity;

or ENROLLED ORIGINAL (3) Otherwise exercised a right pursuant to this title.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a hiring entity or a domestic worker may not include other lawful terms in a services contract.

A grantee shall be a community-based organization with at least 2 years’ experience working on behalf of domestic workers.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (1) Based on the input of an expert or experts in the field of health and safety, develop guidance for domestic workers and hiring entities to address the most common hazards domestic workers encounter in their workplaces and how to mitigate them;

(c)(1) No later than 90 calendar days after the applicability date of this section, the Mayor shall publish on a website that provides information in a plain, easy-to-read format for use by domestic workers, hiring entities, and the general public.public, which shall include:

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (A) The informationtemplate providedservices oncontracts thecreated websitepursuant shallto include:subsection (a) of this section;

(A) The template services contracts created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section;

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (iii) The Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008, effective May 13, 2008 (D.C.

and ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (H) When made available by the Office of the Attorney General, the safety guidance created pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(b) of this section.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (b)(1) The Mayor and Attorney General shall administer and enforce this title consistent with their respective powers and rights under section 6(a), (a-1), (b), and (c) of the Wage Payment Act.

(2)(A) Any records a hiring entity or referral agency maintains pursuant to the requirements of this title or regulations issued topursuant implementto this title shall be open to and made available for inspection or transcription by the Mayor, the Mayor’s authorized representative, or the Office of the Attorney General upon demand at any reasonable time.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (B) No individual may be found to be in violation of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph unless the individual has had an opportunity to challenge the Mayor or Attorney General's demand before a judge, including an administrative law judge.

(3) Except as provided for in rules promulgatedissued underpursuant to this title, the Mayor or Attorney General shall not require a domestic worker to disclose the domestic worker’s immigration status in order to enforce this title.

or ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (B) A civil action against the hiring entity in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(i) Provide a hiring entity alleged to have failed to comply with one or more of the requirements of section 102 with 15 calendar days to cure defects in the ENROLLED ORIGINAL form or terms of the services contract if curing such defects would resolve the violation of section 102;

(e) Upon investigation by the Mayor pursuant to subsection (b) of this section or in an action to enforce this title pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, in addition to administrative ENGROSSED ORIGINAL penalties authorized pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, a hiring entity found to have violated:

(f) Appeals of any administrative order issued under this section shall be made to the District of Columbia Court of AppealsAppeals, as provided in section 110 of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, approved October 21, 1968 (82 Stat.

ENGROSSED ORIGINAL (2) Recordkeeping requirements for a hiring entity or a referral agency;