By: Ashmar Mandou

Chicago, recently has become one of the first major cities to require employers provide contracts to domestic workers. As of January 1, 2022, all nannies, care workers, and home cleaners who work in Chicago must be provided a written contract in their preferred language. The contract requirement makes Chicago the largest city anywhere in the country with such a protection for domestic workers. The new law will be enforced by the Chicago Office of Labor Standards, charged with enforcing all city employment ordinances. During a Zoom press conference on Tuesday hosted by Arise Chicago, a nonprofit resource organization for workers, and both immigrant and native-born, to learn about their rights and organize with fellow workers to improve workplace conditions, members shared their work condition experiences.

“We are here today to announce a new law that went into effect that will benefit all domestic workers and their families in Chicago,” said Anna Jakubek, domestic organizer for Arise Chicago and former domestic worker. “This new law for domestic workers to have contracts should include wages, hours of work, and responsibilities.” To ensure domestic workers know about the new law, how to design a contract, and speak with their employers, Arise Chicago, launched an outreach program to educate and support the city’s nannies, care workers, and home cleaners to create their first contracts and speak with their employers.

“I have been cleaning homes in Chicago for 28 years, which you can see is half my life. After being excluded from legal protections for so long, I am so excited to know there will be contracts for domestic workers. For many domestic workers, we know I do understand the benefits of having contract from past issues and it will prove very beneficial for many workers,” said Sofia Magdalena Portillo. Over the past decade, the organizing of local domestic worker organizations have won protections in several states and municipalities Arise Chicago is a founding member of the Illinois Domestic Workers Coalition, which won the Illinois Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2016, granting basic rights to nannies, care workers, and home cleaners in the state including the right to earn minimum wage and freedom from sexual harassment, among other protections. For more information about the law or if domestic workers are seeking help, visit www.arisechicago.org.