Your Rights as a Nanny, Housekeeper or Domestic Worker

​New York law protects nannies, housekeepers, and other domestic workers.  These protections include the right to be paid in full and on time for all the hours you work, the right to be paid overtime, and protection from sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

Keep reading below for more information.  And know that you do not have to face your employer alone.  For more than 25 years, we have helped people just like you protect their rights.  Let us help you too.

Call us today at (212) 601-2728 to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

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Your Right to At Least the Minimum Wage

​All nannies and domestic workers are covered by the New York minimum wage and overtime laws, except for part-time babysitters who are employed on a casual basis.  Nannies and other domestic workers must be paid at least the minimum wage in effect at the time the work was performed.  And they must be paid for all the hours they worked.  

If your employer paid less than the minimum wage in past years, or did not pay you for all the hours you worked, you may be able to claim unpaid wages.
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​Your Right to “Spread of Hours” Pay

​Nannies and other domestic workers who earn the minimum wage and who work more than ten hours in a single day – for example, from 9am to 8pm – have a right to receive an extra hour’s pay at the minimum wage rate.  The calculation of the number of hours includes meal and rest breaks and time between shifts.
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​Your Right to Overtime Pay

​Nannies and other domestic workers have the right to be paid 1½ times their regular rate of pay for overtime.  For “live in” nannies and domestic workers who live with their employers, you must be paid the overtime rate after you have worked 44 hours in a workweek.  For “live out” nannies and domestic workers, the overtime rate starts after you have worked 40 hours in a workweek.

If you live with your employer, then you must be paid for all the hours you are “required to be available” for work.  In other words, you must be paid for "on call" time, including all the hours when you must remain in the home in case your employer needs you.  The only hours that do not count as "on call" hours are:  (a) hours when you are free to leave the home and do whatever you want without interruption; and (b) eight hours of uninterrupted sleep time.

Your employer can only exclude sleeping time from working hours if:

• they provide you with adequate sleeping facilities
• the exclusion is limited to eight hours, and
• you able to get an uninterrupted night of sleep.

If your sleep is interrupted by a call to work, the time interrupted counts as hours worked. If you cannot get at least five hours of sleep during the scheduled off-duty period, then you must be paid for the entire night.
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​Your Right to a Full Day of Rest

​Nannies and other domestic workers have the right to at least one full day – 24 continuous hours – of time off in each calendar week.  If you voluntarily agree to work on your day of rest, then your employer must pay you 1½ times your regular rate of pay for all hours worked on that day.
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​Your Right to Paid Days Off

​You have the right to 3 paid days off per year after you have worked for your employer for one year.
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​Your Right to be Paid on Time

​You have the right to be paid your wages at least every two weeks on a designated payday.  Your employer may not deposit your wages directly into the bank without your prior written consent.  If your employment is terminated or otherwise ends, the employer must pay your final wages no later than the next regular payday.  Your employer must send your final paycheck to you by mail if you request to be paid that way.
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​Your Right to Rest and Meal Breaks

​If you work for 6 or more continuous hours, then you are entitled to a 30-minute paid meal break.  If the shift begins before 11am and lasts six hours, then your break must be between 11am and 2pm.  If the shift begins before 11am and ends at 7pm or later, then you must be allowed an additional rest break of at least 20 minutes between 5pm and 7pm.
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​Limits on Deductions from Your Pay

Your employer is only allowed to deduct the following expenses from your pay:

• deductions required by law, such as Social Security contributions and other taxes;
• benefits to which you consent in writing, such as health insurance premiums, pension payments, and union dues; and
• other deductions which benefit you and to which you consent in writing, as long as they do not exceed 10% of your gross wages in a given pay period.

If your employer provides meals and lodging, they cannot deduct more than these rates:
Meals:  $2.50 per meal
Lodging:  $3.10 per day
House or Apartment and Utilities:  $5.80 per day

Your employer can only deduct for meals that are “adequate and nutritious.”  Lodging “includes room, house or apartment” and must “meet generally accepted standards for protection against fire, and all structural, sanitation and similar standards.”
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​Protection from Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation 

​The New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights prohibits sexual harassment of domestic workers by their employers.  It also prohibits your employer from harassing you based on your gender, race, national origin, or religion.

You should record the details of any abuse, including dates, times, locations, gestures, comments and your responses in a notebook.

In New York, you are permitted to record conversations without the other person’s knowledge as long as you are a participant in the conversation.  For example, you are allowed to turn on the record feature on your smart phone and record what your employer says to you.  But you are not allowed to leave the phone in a room to record a conversation when you are not present.

It is a crime for anyone, including an employer, to force you to engage in physical or sexual contact, or to hit or physically threaten you.  These are criminal acts that should be reported to the police immediately.  You should also contact a lawyer for advice and to protect your rights.
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Schedule a Confidential Consultation

We know you are anxious and afraid, especially if you have concerns about your immigration status.  But you do not have to face your employer alone.  We are here to help.  For more than 27 years, we have helped people just like you with employment and immigration issues.  Let us help you too.

Call us today at (212) 601-2728 to schedule a confidential consultation.