A guide for employers of domestic workers that explains how to be a fair employer.

Community Partners

<h2>What’s the issue?</h2>
Nannies, house cleaners, and home care workers provide essential care to our communities, but are too often undervalued and vulnerable to abuse. This is because of the long history of exclusion from basic labor protections rooted in the legacy of slavery, and a patronizing perception that this work, traditionally done by women of color, is not "real" work. Employers of domestic workers can help end this legacy of racism and sexism by creating fair working environments in their homes. 
Hand in Hand is a national organization of domestic employers of nannies, housecleaners, and home attendants working for dignified and respectful working conditions that benefit the employers and workers alike. In their work, Hand in Hand organizes employers of domestic workers and provides training on creating fair work environments in their homes.
Becoming a fair employer can be an uncomfortable process. Some people who hire domestic workers don’t see themselves as employers. Many employers ask for a list of best practices they can follow, but it’s often more involved than checking items off a list. Putting fair care into practice may challenge employers’ expectations about how much support they can afford, and many feel caught between their value to pay fairly and their need for support. Many employers also struggle to build trusting, communicative relationships with domestic workers. Hand in Hand needed a guide that explained how to be a fair employer while also providing support for these unique challenges. 

<h2>What did we make? </h2>
Hand in Hand collaborated with CUP and designer and illustrator Sean Suchara to create Fair Care, a guide for employers of nannies, housecleaners, and home care attendants.
Fair Care explains who qualifies as an employer, why it’s their responsibility to create a fair work environment in their home, and how to do so by providing fair pay, paid time off, and clear communication. The guide follows three fictional families — siblings hiring a home attendant for their aging mother; a couple hiring a nanny for their firstborn; and another couple hiring a housecleaner — as they learn how to provide fair care at every stage of the employment process.

<h2>How did we make it?</h2>

We spoke to employers of domestic workers to learn about their experience becoming fair employers. We learned that for many, the biggest challenge was around clear communication. Employers of nannies and home care attendants — who care for employers’ dearest loved ones, as well as employers themselves — emphasized the humanity involved in carework. Beyond formal documents, like a task list and a work agreement, we heard how important it is for employers to build trusting, communicative relationships with careworkers to be able to navigate difficult situations as they come up. 
We heard that building this trust was hard-earned. Employers shared that it was difficult to relinquish control and trust someone else to take care of precious loved-ones. They also shared that at first they lacked awareness around the inherent power dynamic between employer and employee. These challenges, compounded by cultural differences, and the challenge of articulating one’s needs plainly and specifically, could lead to painful misunderstandings.
To address these challenges and center the relationships that are the center of carework, we structured the content around a series of comics that show what it can look and sound like to be a fair employer. At first, conversations are between family members as they prepare to hire a domestic worker and reflect on their needs and what they can afford. After hiring a domestic worker, the conversations are with domestic workers, showing what it can look like to take responsibility for building a trusting relationship.

We clarified the employee/employer relationship between domestic workers and the people who hire them. Beyond communication, another fundamental challenge we heard is that many employers don’t see themselves as employers. This misunderstanding may appear on the surface like a benign misclassification error, but it’s rooted in deeper structural issues like the devaluation of domestic work, the legacy of slavery, sexism, and systemic gaps in labor protections. Without meaning to, well-meaning employers of domestic workers can inadvertently perpetuate harm if they don’t take responsibility for creating fair working environments in their homes.
To address this challenge, we centered the lived experience of both the domestic worker and the employer. To introduce the resource, we showed a domestic worker waking up and getting ready to go to work. This grounds the domestic worker as a person whose place of work is at her employers’ house. On the next page, we showed a group of employers voicing common misconceptions and barriers that hold them back from seeing themselves as employers. This acknowledges the gray area employers may experience, while also holding them accountable to creating fair working environments in their homes.

The first half of the booklet introduces the issue by explaining who qualifies as an employer; why responsibility falls on private employers to ensure domestic workers are treated fairly; and what it means, specifically, to provide fair pay, paid time off, and clear communication. The second half follows three fictional families as they learn how to provide fair care at every stage of the employment process.

Check Out the Project

<h3>Alternative Text for Screen Readers</h3>
<a href="https://domesticemployers.org/resource/fair-care-comic-book/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click here to access the alternative text version of Fair Care</a>

CUP HIH Web

CUP
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/agustín-cepeda" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Agustín Cepeda</a>
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/onyi-egbochue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Onyi Egbochue</a>

Community Partner
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/hand-in-hand" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hand in Hand</a>

Designer
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/sean-suchara" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sean Suchara</a>

Project Collaborators

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Hyperakt is a purpose-driven design and innovation studio that elevates human dignity and ignites curiosity. Since 2001, co-founders Julia Zeltser and Deroy Peraza, along with the Hyperakt team, have been partnering with change-makers moving society forward. We believe in design’s power to build a future filled with courage, optimism, and honesty.

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The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities.

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