In Adriana George’s six years as a nanny in the Rittenhouse and Graduate Hospital neighborhoods, she’s made friends with other domestic workers — nannies, caregivers and house cleaners — who lost their jobs, and sometimes their reputations, after asking their employer for better work conditions.
One nanny George knows was fired for declining to do chores outside of her job description. It took her months to find a new job. Several times she got an initial interview, but no call back afterward.
“The nanny found out that the former employer had taken to parent Facebook groups to bad-mouth and spread falsehoods about her,” said George, a member-leader of the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s (NDWA) Pennsylvania chapter. “Employers have far too much power with no real consequences, which causes huge financial and emotional distress for domestic workers.”
The NDWA’s Pennsylvania chapter scored a big win in 2020 when Philadelphia City Council passed a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. It requires that domestic workers get a written contract outlining their jobs, pay rates, benefits, and schedules. The law also mandates meal breaks after five hours of work, advance notice of termination, a day off per week for live-in workers, and other protections.
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But many nannies, caregivers, and cleaners are still hesitant to address violations of this law, out of fear that their employer will retaliate, said Nicole Kligerman, NDWA’s Pennsylvania director. The chapter wants...
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