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State Helps Domestic Workers Who Are Fighting for Fair Pay
Labor violations are common in the largely unregulated industry. Change is beginning.
By Anna Gorman
Times Staff Writer

September 11, 2005

Josefa Gonzalez said she worked nearly 70 hours a week helping to cook, clean and care for four elderly people in a private home. She earned $342 a week, about $5 an hour, she said, with no overtime pay, breaks or paid sick days.

When her boss, Slavko Beck, told her she also would help care for his ill mother, Gonzalez said, she asked for a raise. That, she said, is when Beck fired her.

She fought back and won more than $70,000 in back wages, with interest, in a judgment from the state labor commissioner's office.

"It's what I worked for," said Gonzalez, 44, who emigrated from El Salvador and worked as an undocumented immigrant for many years before becoming a U.S. citizen. "I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore."

Nannies, housecleaners and caretakers work in a largely unregulated industry, usually without contracts, timecards or any other detailed records. There are pluses for both sides: Employers can generally count on employees' flexibility and willingness to work cheaply, and employees readily find work even if they don't have immigration documents. Frequently, neither side pays taxes.

But the deal can go sour. Because the arrangements are unofficial, labor violations are common, according to employees, their advocates and academics. Workers have few protections and often are hard-pressed to prove they were wronged.

A small but growing number of workers â€â€