New law requires domestic workers to be paid state minimum wage

STATE HOUSE — Gov. Dan McKee has signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Dawn Euer and Rep. Leonela Felix requiring workers in domestic service to be paid Rhode Island’s minimum wage.

As Rhode Island’s minimum wage has increased over the years, one essential group of workers hasn’t seen a raise: domestic workers. That’s because under state minimum wage law, they weren’t considered employees. This law eliminates that exception.

The legislation (2024-S 2021, 2024-H 7532), which goes into effect immediately, removes a provision that classifies “any individual employed in domestic service or in or about a private home” as not an employee for the purposes of Rhode Island’s minimum wage laws. Previously Rhode Island domestic workers were only guaranteed the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

“There’s no reason some workers shouldn’t have minimum wage protections just because they work in households,” said Senator Euer (D-District 13, Newport, Jamestown), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “This bill extends a very basic protection to some of our most essential workers while removing one of the most puzzling statutes in Rhode Island law.”

Said Representative Felix (D-Dist. 61, Pawtucket), “Domestic workers are employees just like workers in any other industry in Rhode Island. They are also disproportionally women, people of color and immigrants. Now is the time to end this discriminatory exemption.”

This discrepancy in minimum wage law overwhelmingly impacts women and people of color. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the United States 90% of domestic workers are women and over 51% are Black, Hispanic, or Asian American and Pacific Islander women.

The legislation was supported by domestic workers, the AFL-CIO, the Rhode Island ACLU, the Economic Progress Institute, SEIU 1199 and the Rhode Island Center for Justice.