Did you know that San Francisco domestic workers are the workforce with the highest estimated number of minimum wage violations in the city? 70% of domestic workers do not earn enough to meet their basic living expenses. Domestic workers are entitled to paid time off like any other employees — but 87% of them never receive this benefit.

This exploitation reflects the historic devaluation of domestic work, rooted in this country’s history of slavery and the subsequent exclusion of Black workers from labor laws formed during the 1930s. During this pandemic, the need for paid time off has never been more clear, as the safety of domestic workers is threatened simply by going to work. Because many of these employees work for multiple private individuals at one time, existing structures that distribute benefits through one central employer do not serve.

San Francisco has the chance to correct these systemic inequities and provide domestic workers with access to paid time off through the creation of a San Francisco Domestic Work PTO Program.
Please sign this petition to the SF Board of Supervisors to pass an ordinance to strengthen protections for domestic workers.