Comments on: New York regulates household employment

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:55:33 +0000

I wonder if an LLC or something like that could shield a homeowner from risk. Or, just hire from an agency who has to bear all the risk.

By: Jack Wilson

Jack Wilson — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:08:20 +0000

Just as fair housing laws basically wiped out the renting of rooms in private residences, this will wipe out household employment.

By: Mannie

Mannie — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:47:54 +0000

Uh, last time I checked, non-payment of wages, torture, and murder were already illegal in New York. Nice straw man, though.

New York has just put thousands of low end domestics out of work. Liberals hate children and want them to starve.

By: GregS

GregS — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:17:06 +0000

My guess is that resentment against the wealthy is the real motive for these new regulations, not any alleged desire to help the poor, exploited household workers. Oh, and pandering to the labour unions.

By: Bob Neal

Bob Neal — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:50:44 +0000

I wondered the same thing – what in the world does Saudi law have to do with this? Answer: Nothing, it’s a diversion. This move by New York is a give-away to the SEIU. The result will be REDUCED employment for domestic workers b/c real prices will rise significantly and b/c ordinary people who aren’t versed in employment law are scared to death of becoming a target of regulators.

By: John Fembup

John Fembup — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:48:46 +0000

I fail to see what Saudi Arabia law has to do with New York.

And I agree with Doug–that is exactly what I would do.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:17:24 +0000

@Bill Poser: Sorry, got a bit ahead of the curve. A proposed law was submitted to the Saudi Shoura Council back in the spring. I haven't heard where it went or if it's still going.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:06:53 +0000

Well, if I lived in New York and had used such help before, I would either; 1) fire them all or 2) move to a different state.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:49:24 +0000

Two things of note from the article:

The ties between domestic work and the legacy of slavery cannot be overlooked.

What is the “Godwin’s Law” equivalent of this type of race card?

and

The new law also includes a mandate that the New York State Commissioner of Labor conduct a feasibility study on the practicality of extending collective bargaining rights to domestic workers.

Your home can now be a union shop.

Think of the possibilities.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:21:47 +0000

Several years ago, the Saudis implemented new laws, separate from the general labor laws to govern domestic labor–and a separate set for Saudi women seeking to work as domestics. I’ll try to find a citation for you.

Right now, the only thing working to establish minimum wages, though, is the sending countries. Several have demanded (and gotten) minimum wages against the threat of banning the sending of any workers. This has had the effect of sending recruiters to ‘new’ lands, like central Africa, to find workers. Those countries are so desperate for hard currency remittances that they haven’t gotten around to fixing wages or conditions.

Right now, Indonesia is looking at a ban, as is the Philippines. Too much abuse.