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SB-321 Employment safety standards: advisory committee: household domestic services.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 09/28/2021 09:00 PM
SB321:v94#DOCUMENT

Senate Bill No. 321
CHAPTER 332

An act to add Section 6305.1 to the Labor Code, relating to employment.

[ Approved by Governor  September 27, 2021. Filed with Secretary of State  September 27, 2021. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 321, Durazo. Employment safety standards: advisory committee: household domestic services.
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. Existing law charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with enforcement of the act, subject to oversight by the Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (chief).
This bill would require the chief or a representative of the chief to convene an advisory committee, comprised of no fewer than 13 and no more than 18 individuals, including representatives from specified groups, to make recommendations, in consultation with other specified divisions and entities, to the department or Legislature to protect the health and safety of household domestic service employees, and develop voluntary industry-specific occupational health and safety guidance for the purpose of educating household domestic service employees and employers, as specified. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to post the report to its internet website and submit a copy to the Legislature, as specified, no later than January 1, 2023.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 6305.1 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6305.1.
 (a) (1) The Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or a representative of the chief, shall convene an advisory committee for the purposes of creating voluntary guidance and making recommendations to the Department of Industrial Relations and the Legislature on policies the state may adopt to protect the health and safety of privately funded household domestic service employees.
(2) This section shall not apply to:
(A) Household domestic service that is publicly funded, including publicly funded household domestic service provided to a recipient, client, or beneficiary with a share of cost in that service, unless subject to Section 3342 or 5199 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) Family daycare homes as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code and subdivisions (d) and (f) of Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) The advisory committee shall be geographically and demographically diverse, shall include an equal number of representatives of domestic workers and employers, and shall be comprised of no fewer than 13 and no more than 18 individuals.
(c) The advisory committee shall include, but not be limited to, a representative from all of the following groups:
(1) Domestic work employees who have worked as a housecleaner in private homes for at least five years.
(2) Domestic work employees who have worked as a nanny in private homes for at least five years.
(3) Domestic work employees who have worked as a caregiver or attendant in private homes for at least five years.
(4) Domestic work employees who have worked as a day laborer at private homes for at least five years. “Day laborer” includes, but is not limited to, exterior maintenance workers, gardeners, and landscapers.
(5) Domestic work employers who have employed housecleaners in their private homes for at least five years.
(6) Domestic work employers who have employed nannies in their private homes for at least five years.
(7) Domestic work employers who have employed caregivers or attendants in their private homes for at least five years.
(8) Domestic work employers who have employed a day laborer at their private homes for at least five years.
(9) A nonprofit organization with a minimum of five years of experience advocating for day laborers and connecting them with private household employers.
(10) A nonprofit organization with a minimum of five years of experience advocating on behalf of domestic work employees.
(11) A nonprofit organization with a minimum of five years of experience advocating on behalf of domestic work employers.
(d) The advisory committee shall include, but not be limited to, two experts in the prevention of work-related injury and illness most commonly suffered by domestic work employees.
(e) The Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate President pro Tempore may each appoint one individual to the advisory committee.
(f) The advisory committee shall develop voluntary industry-specific occupational health and safety guidance for the purpose of the following:
(1) Educating household domestic service employees on how, to the extent possible, they may identify and evaluate workplace hazards and prevent or minimize work-related injuries and illnesses.
(2) Educating household domestic service employers on how they may create safer workplaces by identifying and evaluating workplace hazards and how to prevent or minimize work-related injuries and illnesses for their employees.
(g) The advisory committee shall make recommendations, in consultation with the divisions and entities within the Department of Industrial Relations, and applicable state agencies and departments, on what additional policies may be adopted by the Department of Industrial Relations or the Legislature to protect the health and safety of household domestic service employees. In making these recommendations, the advisory group shall consider the following:
(1) How to protect the privacy of individuals who employ domestic workers in their private residences in the context of future potential enforcement of health and safety standards, orders, and regulations, including applicability to household domestic service employers of the existing civil monetary penalty structure for violations.
(2) Identifying and evaluating common workplace hazards specific to the industry.
(3) The scope and applicability of existing regulations to the industry.
(4) The need to develop industry-specific requirements.
(5) How to conduct training and outreach to employers and employees in the industry.
(h) The Division of Occupational Safety and Health shall release and publicly post the report of the advisory committee on its internet website and submit, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, a copy of the report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature no later than January 1, 2023.