H.R. 3971: Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act

H.R. 3971 is a sweeping attempt to create a federal floor for domestic work. The bill's findings cite roughly 2,200,000 domestic employees nationwide, with nearly 9 in 10 women, about 2 in 5 age 50 or older, and average pay of about $16.79 an hour or $20,926 a year for full-time work.

The biggest change is overtime for live-in workers. If you live in the home where you work, H.R. 3971 would remove a federal overtime carveout that currently excludes many live-in domestic employees.

The bill also says many workers would need a written agreement within 5 days of hire if they work at least 8 hours a week. That agreement would have to spell out pay, hours, duties, time off, and how disputes get handled, giving workers something in writing instead of relying on informal promises.

Scheduling and time-off rules would also tighten. Workers would earn 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours a year, while employers would generally need to give 72 hours' notice for schedule changes and provide pay when work is canceled late. The bill also requires meal and rest breaks.

For live-in workers, getting fired would no longer mean losing both a job and a place to sleep at once. Employers would have to give 48 hours' written notice and then provide either 30 days of lodging or 2 weeks of severance pay.

H.R. 3971 reaches beyond paychecks too. It limits surveillance in private spaces, protects reasonable access to a phone or internet, bars certain wage deductions, creates anti-retaliation rules, and sets up federal outreach and enforcement tools. It also tells federal agencies to apply protections to Medicaid-funded personal care aides, while giving states temporary extra Medicaid matching funds to help cover the transition.