Brown vetoes Calif. domestic workers rights bill
By HANNAH DREIER, Associated Press – 10 minutes ago
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced that he had vetoed legislation that would have provided overtime pay, meal breaks and other labor protections to an estimated 200,000 caregivers, nannies and house cleaners in California.
Brown called their work a "noble endeavor" and said they deserve fair pay and safe working conditions.
But the Democratic governor said the bill "raises a number of unanswered questions," prompting him to reject the measure. It was among dozens of bills he acted on in the final hours before his midnight deadline to consider bills sent to him this fall by the Legislature.
Advocates said the legislation, dubbed the Domestic Workers of Bill of Rights, is necessary to protect a primarily female, immigrant workforce from abuse. They were successful in persuading New York lawmakers to pass similar legislation in 2010.
Among other things, the bill would have required that live-in workers be compensated if their rest period was interrupted during an eight-hour period and eased eligibility requirements for workers' compensation.
The California Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed AB889. They argued that labor laws carve out an exception for domestic workers for a reason: providing meal breaks and uninterrupted rest periods for caretakers is impractical at best and dangerous at worst.
It was unclear how the legislation by Assemblymen Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, and V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, would have been enforced and whether it would have extended to part-time workers such as baby sitters. It called for the Department of Industrial Relations to set regulations by January 2014.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By HANNAH DREIER, Associated Press – 10 minutes ago
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced that he had vetoed legislation that would have provided overtime pay, meal breaks and other labor protections to an estimated 200,000 caregivers, nannies and house cleaners in California.
Brown called their work a "noble endeavor" and said they deserve fair pay and safe working conditions.
But the Democratic governor said the bill "raises a number of unanswered questions," prompting him to reject the measure. It was among dozens of bills he acted on in the final hours before his midnight deadline to consider bills sent to him this fall by the Legislature.
Advocates said the legislation, dubbed the Domestic Workers of Bill of Rights, is necessary to protect a primarily female, immigrant workforce from abuse. They were successful in persuading New York lawmakers to pass similar legislation in 2010.
Among other things, the bill would have required that live-in workers be compensated if their rest period was interrupted during an eight-hour period and eased eligibility requirements for workers' compensation.
The California Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed AB889. They argued that labor laws carve out an exception for domestic workers for a reason: providing meal breaks and uninterrupted rest periods for caretakers is impractical at best and dangerous at worst.
It was unclear how the legislation by Assemblymen Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, and V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, would have been enforced and whether it would have extended to part-time workers such as baby sitters. It called for the Department of Industrial Relations to set regulations by January 2014.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.