In July a new day will dawn for the legal rights and duties of domestic workers and their employers. In January, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. This law, part of a national movement by the National Domestic Workers Alliance to provide legal protections to nannies, caregivers, cleaners and gardeners, will make significant adjustments in one of the least regulated segments of the employment and household economy.

Estimates state that there are close to 50,000 such employees, as well as all of those who employ them, in our state. A new Domestic Workers Standards and Implementation Board is created to guide the new law into effect. We estimate that a large proportion of New Jersey lawyers themselves employ a variety of domestic workers, as do many of their clients.