SB 686: Domestic workers: occupational safety.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, with duties and powers, as prescribed.

Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified. The act charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcement of the act, subject to oversight by the Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The act excludes household domestic service from the definition of employment. The act requires the chief, or a representative of the chief, to convene an advisory committee for the purposes of creating voluntary guidance and making recommendations to the department and the Legislature on policies the state may adopt to protect the health and safety of privately funded household domestic service employees, except publicly funded household domestic service and family daycare homes, as specified. The act requires the advisory committee to develop voluntary industry-specific occupational health and safety guidance relating to workplace hazards and the prevention or minimization of work-related injuries and illnesses. The act requires the advisory committee to make recommendations, as specified, on additional policies to protect the health and safety of household domestic service employees. Under specified circumstances, a violation of the act is a crime.

Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, upon appropriation of funding for this purpose, to establish and maintain an outreach and education program for the purpose of promoting awareness of, and compliance with, labor protections that affect the domestic work industry and fair and dignified labor standards in this industry and other low-wage industries. Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to issue a competitive request to community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide education and outreach services in this connection and prescribes requirements for these organizations. Existing law makes CBOs responsible for developing and consulting with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement regarding the core education and outreach materials, as specified. Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and CBOs to meet at least biannually to coordinate efforts around outreach, education, and enforcement, including sharing information, in accordance with applicable privacy and confidentiality laws, that will shape and inform the overall enforcement strategy of the division regarding low-wage industries, including the domestic work industry. Existing law prohibits the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement from expending more than 5% of the budget allocation on the administration of the program.

This bill would make CBOs responsible for developing and consulting with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health regarding the core education and outreach materials regarding health and safety standards, retaliation, and the divisions workplace safety complaint and retaliation process, including specific issues that affect the domestic work industry differently. The bill would make CBOs responsible for all costs related to the development, printing, advertising, or distribution of the education and outreach materials. The bill would require the chief, representatives of the consultation services and enforcement branches of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and CBOs to meet periodically, as specified, to coordinate efforts around outreach, education, and enforcement. The bill would prohibit the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health from expending more than 5% of the budget allocation on the administration of the program.

This bill, for purposes of the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, commencing January 1, 2025, would narrow the exclusion of household domestic service from the definition of employment to exclude only publicly funded household domestic service and family daycare homes, as specified. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, by January 1, 2025, to adopt industry guidance to assist household domestic service employers on their legal obligations under existing occupational safety and health laws and regulations that apply to the work activity of household domestic service employees. The bill would require the guidance to be consistent with the voluntary industry guidelines established by the advisory committee. The bill would require a household domestic services employer, by January 1, 2025, to comply with, and adhere to, all applicable occupational safety and health regulations. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, if the division determines that additional industry-specific regulations are necessary, to propose those regulations to the standards board for its review, and would require the standards board to adopt regulations by January 1, 2026.

By expanding the application of criminal penalties under the act to household domestic service employers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.