Sponsors (22)
The bill extends minimum wage/overtime and clearer legal definitions to many babysitters and domestic workers—improving worker protections and classification clarity—while raising costs for families who rely on informal care and creating compliance questions for mixed-role caregivers.
Domestic workers who are currently treated as informal babysitters (e.g., gig/freelance babysitters and low-income home childcare workers) will be eligible for minimum wage and overtime pay.
Parents and families gain clearer legal protections and recourse when hiring babysitters because the law defines 'babysitting services' and clarifies when work is 'casual.'
Households and workers get clearer limits on what counts as casual babysitting due to a 20% cap on non-babysitting household tasks, reducing misuse of the 'casual' label to avoid labor protections.
Families who regularly rely on informal babysitters (including many middle-class households) may face higher childcare costs because those workers must now be paid minimum wage and overtime.
Occasional babysitters such as neighbors or relatives might be pushed toward unpaid favors or fewer paid gigs to avoid paperwork and costs, reducing paid opportunities for some workers.
Excluding trained medical personnel and home care workers from the babysitting definition could create ambiguity for mixed-role caregivers, making it harder for homeowners and employers to know how to comply.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Narrows some FLSA domestic-worker exemptions, adds definitions for "babysitting services" and "casual basis," and limits incidental household work during babysitting to 20% of the time.
Official title: Amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to ensure that certain caregiving employees are no longer exempted from overtime and minimum wage protections.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Patty Murray · Last progress March 12, 2026
Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act narrow some domestic-worker exemptions and add definitions for babysitting and casual babysitting. The bill treats more home care workers as covered employees by removing or revising certain exemptions and clarifies when babysitting counts as casual, including a limit on incidental household tasks while babysitting.