Employment safety standards: 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 (chief) . Existing law makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law defines "employment," for purposes of the act, to include the carrying on of any trade, enterprise, project, industry, business, occupation, or work, including all excavation, demolition, and construction work, or any process or operation in any way related thereto, in which any person is engaged or permitted to work for hire, except household domestic service. This bill would delete the above-described exception for household domestic service, thereby making it subject to the act. The bill would provide, however, that "employment" does not include household domestic service that is publicly funded, as specified, unless it is subject to certain regulatory provisions. The bill would make coverage for household domestic service operative on January 1, 2022, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the chief or a representative of the chief to convene an advisory committee and, within 6 months of convening, in consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, make findings and recommendations to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for industry-specific regulations related to household domestic service. The bill would require the board to adopt industry-specific regulations pursuant to these provisions within a reasonable time and no later than January 1, 2022. Existing law authorizes the chief and all qualified and authorized division inspectors and investigators to have free access to any place of employment to make an investigation or inspection during regular working hours, and at other reasonable times when necessary, for the protection of safety and health. This bill would require the chief or their representative, when the workplace is a residential dwelling, to initiate telephone contact with the employer in response to an alleged violation received from a domestic service employee within a specified timeframe. The bill would require the chief or their representative to provide specified notice to the employer about the alleged violation and to investigate the violation in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would require the employer to provide specified information to the division regarding mitigation efforts to correct the violation and to provide copies of all correspondence received from the division to the domestic service employee or to post the correspondence, as specified. The bill would authorize the chief or their authorized representative, for complaints alleging serious illness or injury or death in household domestic service, to enter the premises with permission or with an inspection warrant without first initiating telephone contact, as specified. The bill would require investigations of complaints in household domestic service employment to be conducted in a manner that avoids any unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and to not contain any personal, financial, or medical information of residents residing in the residential dwelling that is not pertinent to the investigation of the complaint. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.