Nine in 10 Florida domestic workers lack contracts, study finds
A woman who worked three years in a Miami household says she was paid nothing and was later granted a T visa.
By Andrew Kovalenko ·
An estimated 2.2 million people work in domestic care in the United States, and 90% of them are women, according to figures cited in the source material. A recent study by The Right to Freedom found that 9 out of 10 domestic workers in Florida have no employment contract. More than half of those surveyed work over 50 hours a week, and the study reported a rise in cases of exploitation and trafficking.
Yamilet Nolasco began working for a family she met in her hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico, when she was 16. The family moved to the United States and obtained a work visa for her when she turned 18. She signed a contract to work as a domestic worker and arrived in Miami in spring 2019, caring for three children aged one, two and ten.
Nolasco says the weekly pay agreed in Mexico, about 2,500 Mexican pesos or roughly $130, was never delivered. She said the family told her she did not need cash because they covered her expenses. Over three years she calculates the family owed her about 90,000 Mexican pesos, or $4,784, after subtracting transfers the family made to her relatives.
Her account changed in 2021, when relatives in the United States invited her to a quinceañera. After she described her working conditions, they connected her with The Right to Freedom, an association started by Karla, who had herself been abused as a domestic worker. A police officer called Nolasco to ask about her conditions, and agents later visited the home. She said the agents used the words exploitation and human trafficking, and the couple in the household was handcuffed.
Nolasco said she had no bank account and could not leave the house freely. The family told her she could not go because her visa had expired, and she said they threatened to return her to Mexico. After filing a complaint, she was granted a T visa, a work permit and a Social Security number. She said she must wait three years before applying for residency.
Nolasco, now 26, lives in North Carolina with her partner and two children. She said she has not worked as a nanny since leaving the Miami household and started at UPS shortly after receiving her T visa.
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