Nearly eight years after passage of a law granting new rights to domestic workers, the law’s effectiveness has been hampered by a lack of awareness among employees and employers and insufficient enforcement resources, a new report concluded.
Researchers who surveyed more than 200 housekeepers, cleaners, nannies, caretakers, cooks and others who fall under the umbrella of “domestic worker” found most had little to no awareness of the protections they are guaranteed under the 2014 law, while the families that employ them were similarly out of the loop on the requirements they face.
The report published Thursday from the Boston College Law School Civil Rights Clinic and the Brazilian Worker Center stopped short of outright criticizing the attorney general’s office, which is the primary agency responsible for enforcing the law and educating both employers and employees about its provisions, or other agencies that might play a role in maximizing the law’s success.
Instead, authors highlighted the glaring gaps that persist years after its passage and outlined a series of recommended steps they hope will “push all of us to work harder to fulfill the promise” of the legislation.
“Our survey results highlighted two major obstacles hindering the bill’s efficacy, the first being a lack of knowledge about the bill and how to report a violation and the second being limited resources to properly enforce it,” said Lloyd Hancock, a Boston College law student who co-authored the report. “...
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