a bill that would strengthen job protections for tens of thousands of domestic workers in the state is moving through Trenton these are jobs that include house cleaners home health aids nannies and even gardeners people who are far from the public eye and it aims to end car voutes that have allowed their employers to pay less than the minimum wage or offer breaks and time off as Melissa Rose Cooper reports the legislation survived a vote from the full Senate late last week despite some opposition I would say the majority of domestic workers when we perform this work we do it with passion we do it with love yet Evelyn Saz says that love is often overlooked by their employers leading to long hours with no breaks at 8:00 and we finish at 4:00 you know taking care of someone who needs a lot of uh who needs you know who needs our attention and we're not able even to take um a break for us and that have an impact in in you know that has an impact in our mental health so SAS is hoping new legislation will change that the domestic workers Bill of Rights provides labor protections for more than 50,000 domestic workers across New Jersey who have historically been excluded under the measure employers would be prevented from paying domestic employees less than the state minimum wage paid meal and rest breaks would be mandatory and employers would be required to enter a written contract with domestic work workers Employers in violation would be subject to penalties we are living in the 2020 uh in 2023 and domestic workers continue being excluding inv basic key elements of of Labor lot in um in New Jersey and other protection that other workers enjoy and that this Bild basically trying to raise a standard of workers who were uh who were his who has been historically left behind and historically being has been marginalized vilio Iran is an organizer and coordinator for the National Domestic workers Alliance in New Jersey since those who take care of children the sick and elderly as well as people who perform gardening and cleaning Duties are considered domestic workers Aran says they play Vital roles in keeping the economy going it is a small step with huge implication and part of those implication it is basically the dignification or dignify um the work that women perform in this um in this society that it is not just about taking care um but also extending uh you know basic rights to to uh women according to a 2020 report from the Rucker Center for Women and work 86% of domestic workers are paid in cash most without a contract 57% have been victims of wage theft and many workers have no health insurance or pay time off a third of domestic employees also report they were even refused unpaid sick time unfortunately I can't say that we would get to a point where we're in favor of the bill just because the nature of the bill provides more burdensome requirements on doing business in New Jersey but we are at a point where we are neutral we are content with the bill we still have some members that do have concerns with the bill even as amended but we do believe it struck that balance between providing worker protection and also making New Jersey an affordable place to live and do business before clearing the Senate last week the bill was amended to include Provisions to help ease the concerns of business owners who felt the measure would place an unfair burden on them and make their cost of business unaffordable the bill is still pending consideration in the assembly Advocates say they hope it becomes lost soon so domestic workers can get the fair treatment they deserve for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper