Seattle’s Domestic Workers Ordinance Marks One Year Anniversary of Providing Basic Rights to Domestic Workers

As more households re-engage domestic workers, new Covid-19 resources for phase two reopening and 2020 Notice of Rights and Pay available

Seattle- July 1, 2020 – Today the Office of Labor Standards (OLS) announces the one year anniversary since the Domestic Workers Ordinance (DWO) went into effect on July 1, 2019. The Ordinance, which was passed in 2018, was the first in the nation to provide basic workplace protections to all domestic workers regardless of their status as employees or independent contractors. The DWO requires that Seattle households and other hiring entities ensure that their domestic workers receive a minimum wage, rest and meal breaks, among other protections. The Ordinance covers domestic workers (both employees and independent contractors) who provide paid services to an individual or household in a private home as a nanny, house cleaner, home care worker, gardener, cook, and/or household manager. Please visit the OLS Domestic Workers Ordinance webpage to learn more about domestic workers rights and a hiring entity’s responsibilities under the law.

2020 Model Notice of Rights and Pay Information

The Domestic Workers 2020 Model Notice of Rights and Pay Information is now available to download on the OLS Domestic Workers Ordinance webpage for those who employ or pay for the services of a domestic worker covered by the Ordinance. Hiring entities are encouraged to distribute this model notice to their worker, in the language the worker is most comfortable using. You can download a translated version in Spanish by clicking here and Simplified Chinese here.

This notice is not intended as legal advice and does not create a contract with the City of Seattle.

Domestic Worker Covid-19 Resources

The City of Seattle is providing a reopening toolkit that is intended to provide accessible, high-level information based off the guidance that is set by the State Department of Health and Public Health – Seattle and King County to help individuals, households, and businesses successfully resume domestic services in Phase 2.

During Phase 2 of the Safe Start plan for domestic services, the Washington State Department of Health requires that all individuals, households, and businesses who engage domestic services and domestic service workers take the following actions:

• provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for domestic workers at no cost to the worker;
• frequently clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces;
• limit face-to-face interactions with domestic workers whenever possible; and/or
• leave the household while services are being performed; and
• frequently clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

All guidance is subject to change at any time. To view the complete toolkit, please click here. Amharic, Chinese, Korean, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese translations are available.

Additionally, the Domestic Workers Standards Board created a webpage of best practices for domestic hiring entities and workers during COVID-19, including links to sample written agreements to help workers and hiring entities communicate during COVID-19.

For more information about the Domestic Worker’s Ordinance please visit the OLS website or call 206-256-5297.

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