A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT amending the labor laws to establish the domestic workers' bill of rights and appropriating funds for enforcement of those rights.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 95 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 24.
"Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights.
"§ 95‑274.  Short title; purpose.
This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights."
"§ 95‑275.  Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this Article:
(1)	Domestic worker or worker. – A person employed in a home or residence for the purpose of caring for a child, serving as a companion to a sick, convalescing or elderly person, housekeeping, or for any other domestic service purpose. "Domestic worker" does not include any individual who is engaged in providing companionship services, as defined in section 213(A)(15) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and who is employed by an employer or agency other than the family or household using his or her services.
(2)	Employer. – Any person who employs a domestic worker.
(3)	Paid time off. – The days that the domestic worker is entitled to time off with pay calculated at each domestic worker's regular rate of pay for his or her regular hours worked on that day.
"§ 95‑276.  Employment conditions.
(a)	A domestic worker is entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in each and every calendar week. No domestic worker shall be required to work on his or her day of rest. In the event that a domestic worker agrees to work on the worker's day of rest, he or she will be compensated at the overtime rate for all hours worked on his or her day of rest or at twice his or her regular rate if such hours constitute hours worked beyond 40 hours in a work week.
(b)	A domestic worker is entitled to the following holidays:
(1)	New Year's Day.
(2)	Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday.
(3)	Independence Day.
(4)	Thanksgiving.
(5)	Labor Day.
(6)	Christmas Day.
(c)	No domestic worker shall be required to work on a holiday. In the event that a domestic worker agrees to work on a holiday, the worker will be compensated at the overtime rate for all hours worked on the holiday or at twice his or her regular rate if such hours constitute hours worked beyond 40 hours in a work week. Domestic workers are entitled to at least seven sick days each year. Domestic workers are entitled to at least five vacation days per year which shall be agreed upon with the employer at least 30 days in advance of the first vacation day.
(d)	A domestic worker is entitled to written notice of termination 21 days before the worker's final day of employment. An employer who fails to give notice as required by this Article is liable to each employee entitled to notice who lost his or her employment for the following:
(1)	Back pay at the average regular rate of compensation received by the employee during the last three years of his or her employment, or the employee's final rate of compensation, whichever is higher.
(2)	The value of the cost of any benefits to which the employee would have been entitled.
Back pay and other liability under this section is calculated for the period of the employer's violation, up to a maximum of 60 days, or one‑half the number of days that the employee was employed by the employer, whichever period is smaller.
"§ 95‑277.  Remedies.
Any employer or the employer's agent, or the officer or agent of any corporation, who pays or provides or agrees to pay or provide to any domestic worker less than the wage, or benefits applicable under this Article is subject to a civil enforcement action brought by the worker, the Commissioner, or the Attorney General.
If any domestic worker is paid or provided by his or her employer less than the wages, or benefits to which he or she is entitled under the provisions of this Article, he or she may recover in a civil action the amount of any such underpayments of wages or the value of such benefits costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, and if such underpayment of or failure to provide benefits was willful, an additional amount as liquidated damages equal to twenty‑five percent (25%) of the total of such underpayments or the value of benefits found to be due him or her and any agreement between him or her and his or her employer to work for less than such wage or without such benefits shall be no defense to such action.
"§ 95‑278.  Enforcement.
The Commissioner or the Attorney General may bring a legal action on behalf of any domestic worker paid or provided less than the wages, or benefits to which he or she is entitled under the provisions of this Article, to collect such claim and the employer shall be required to pay the costs and, if such underpayment of wages or failure to provide benefits was willful, an additional amount as liquidated damages equal to twenty‑five percent (25%) of the total of such underpayments or the value of benefits found to be due him or her. Such claim, and liquidated damages shall be paid to the domestic worker. An action to recover upon a liability imposed by this Article must be commenced within six years.
If the Commissioner determines that an employer has violated a provision of this Article, the Commissioner shall issue to the employer an order directing compliance therewith, which shall describe particularly the nature of the alleged violation. In addition to directing payment of wages, benefits or wage supplements found to be due, such order, if issued to an employer who previously has been found in violation of those provisions, rules or regulations, or to an employer whose violation is willful or egregious, shall direct payment to the commissioner of an additional sum as a civil penalty in an amount equal to double the total amount found to be due. In no case shall the order direct payment of an amount less than the total wages, benefits, or wage supplements found by the commissioner to be due, plus the appropriate civil penalty. Where the violation is for a reason other than the employer's failure to pay wages, benefits, or wage supplements found to be due, the order shall direct payment to the commissioner of a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a first violation, two thousand dollars ($2,000) for a second violation, or three thousand dollars ($3,000) for a third or subsequent violation. In assessing the amount of the penalty, the commissioner shall give due consideration to the size of the violation, the history of previous violations and, in the case of wages, benefits, or supplements violations, the failure to comply with record keeping or other non‑wage requirements.
"§ 95‑279.  Severability.
If any part or provision of this Article, or the application of this Article to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Article including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected and shall continue in full force and effect."
SECTION 2.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Labor the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year to fund educational efforts concerning, and enforcement efforts pertaining to, the provisions of this act.
SECTION 2.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year to fund educational efforts concerning, and enforcement efforts pertaining to, the provisions of this act.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2020.