Document Type
Honors Project
Abstract
State-level legislation to advance employment rights for domestic workers is on the rise in the United States, but implementation is largely ineffective due to a lack of representation on behalf of employees. This study analyzes the roles of two specific types of organizations — public policy networks pushing legislation for domestic workers and employment agencies placing workers into jobs — to better understand how enforcement of existing laws in this field can be improved through the services that protective organizations provide. Can domestic workers rely on these groups to secure their rights when individual employers may not, or do they lack the agency necessary to instill change? Findings show that although these organizations supply domestic workers with a variety of resources to both guard their rights and pursue new ones, there exists a problem of enforcement that is deeply rooted in employer behavior and would be best eliminated by employer participation in a new normalization of legal cooperation.
Recommended Citation
Pickrell, Anna, "The Mary Poppins Problem: Enforcing Protective Legislation for Domestic Workers in America" (2014). Sociology Honors Projects. 45.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/soci_honors/45
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