Coyote Visions Employment Solutions
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Far too many domestic workers are treated like shadow people

            Would you take a job that only paid $2.25 an hour?  If you are a domestic worker in Colorado, you may be asked to do just that.  Consider a recent ad posted on a free classifieds site: they were looking for someone to work 8.75 hours a day, 5 days a week, for $400 a MONTH. That equals 175 hours a month at $2.25 an hour.  While this private employer may have the excuse that she is not earning enough to pay a nanny more, many affluent families throughout Colorado fail to pay their workers minimum wage, overtime, vacations or even lunch breaks.

            A survey conducted by the University of Colorado – Denver in December 2010 shows a disturbing trend for domestic workers, including nannies, housekeepers, cooks and caretakers (as cited by the Channel 9 News, Dec. 3, 2010):

• More than 40% of domestic workers were paid less than the state’s minimum wage of $7.25.
• 90%  of workers who worked more than 60 hours a week did not receive overtime pay.
• Only 14% of the workers received paid time off for sick days, vacation or holidays.
• 49% of domestic workers reported being abused on the job, including sexually, verbally or even physically.

            First and foremost, the mistreatment of domestic workers in Colorado is more than just a violation of the state’s minimum wage laws. Due to the high number of minorities who are oppressed by these practices, it is a violation of Colorado anti-discrimination laws as well.  Many private employers feel that since they are employing less than 15 workers – the minimum required to fall under the jurisdiction of the United State Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) who enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (EEOC, n.d.) – they are justified in ignoring the anti-discrimination laws.  However, according to Colorado statutes, employers with as few as one employee are subject to compliance with the Colorado Anti Discrimination Act of 2006 (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-34-401 et. seq.).  According to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA):

 Discrimination based on the following factors is illegal in the areas of Employment: Race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, sexual orientation (incl. transgender status), physical or mental disability, marriage to a co-worker and retaliation for engaging in protected activity (opposing a discriminatory practice or participating in an employment discrimination proceeding)

            Another problem which can relate to cultural differences is the fact of sexual harassment and the hostile work environment.  With so many minority women working in private homes, many do not feel that they have the right to be treated with dignity and respect; this includes being free from sexual remarks, unwanted touching and even leers as they walk by.  According to Boatright, one definition of such sexual harassment is “a reasonable person standard, whereby conduct that is offensive to a person of average sensibilities would be impermissible” (p. 177).  However, by working in isolation and already accepting of disparate treatment, few female domestic workers feel comfortable with reporting on their employers – especially if they are desperate for the work.

            Finally, many domestic workers suffer from violations of their employment rights.  Unfortunately, Colorado’s status of an at-will employment state can add to the problem, instead of help it.  Part of the assumption with an at-will employment situation is that both parties are free to negotiate a beneficial contract for both sides.  However, one of the major problems with this freedom to contract is the “immense difference in bargaining power that usually prevails between employers and employees” (Boatright, p. 213).  In practice, many domestic workers do not feel comfortable negotiating their own salaries, benefits, live-in housing conditions and other details that corporate employees take for granted.  In many cases, the workers are grateful for a job – any job – and will not press for too much at the negotiation table.  Plus, consider our sample job posting; there are literally hundreds of jobs in the Denver area that offer less than minimum wage for child care, hiding behind the guise that a stay-at-home-mother could earn extra cash by watching other children at the same time.  Another problem identified by Boatright concerns low job mobility: “employers can make greater demands on and even abuse workers who cannot readily move to another job” (p. 209).  For many domestic workers, they actually live in the homes of their employers; changing their jobs means becoming homeless.  Add to the mix the number of immigrants with a language barrier and the ability to easily change jobs becomes even more difficult – and frightening.

            So what can we do to solve this injustice to our domestic workers?  New York enacted the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in November 2010 (New York Department of Labor, 2010).  There is some precedent that we can implore our lawmakers to consider a similar action, and letters to our congressmen can help. 

Another action is education.  If you are in a management role in a private household, it is your responsibility to educate your employers of proper treatment for all staff members.  If we can all unify to help protect our fellow workers, we can affect real, grass-roots change.