Migrant Domestic Workers’ Access to Services and Rights: The Role of Municipal Governments in New York City and São Paolo

Domestic workers represent a poorly regulated labor market of 53 million people, 83% of whom are women. Overlapping issues of gender, race, class, and legal status intersect to produce a uniquely vulnerable workforce. Recent laws in New York State (2010) and Brazil (2013) attempt to provide a regulatory framework for increased protection.

This report evaluated the implementation of the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in New York City and the amendment to Article 7 of the Brazilian Constitution in São Paulo. It further explored and analyzed the implementation challenges faced by the administrative authorities and relevant non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as the ability of domestic workers and employers to access the rights articulated in the law. 

The laws themselves represent a huge achievement in the fight to formalize domestic work; however, the research findings reveal a wide chasm between the rights as written, and their intended effect. In both New York and São Paulo the enforcement system is under-resourced and complaint-driven, which puts the onus on workers to report violations of the law. In the absence of robust state enforcement, workers’ organizations have stepped up to fill the enforcement gap. Based on the comparative analysis, the report recommended governments and advocates: 1) craft stronger laws with more protections, 2) provide resources and funding to enforcement bodies to publicize and implement the laws, 3) align interests of employers and domestic workers to define more effective penalties and incentives, and 4) support the development of partnerships and tools to formalize the domestic workforce.