Are Domestic Workers Covered by Workers’ Comp in New York?

The special rule for private-home work

Workers’ comp in New York reaches almost everyone, but domestic work inside a private home follows a rule of its own. A household worker, such as a nanny, housekeeper, cook, or home attendant, is covered when they work 40 or more hours per week for the same household employer. Live-in workers are generally treated as covered as well.

This is the detail that surprises people. The same person could be covered in one arrangement and not in another, depending on the hours worked for a single family. The threshold is tied to the employer-household relationship, not to the type of task.

Counting the hours that matter

Because the 40-hour figure controls coverage, how the hours add up is worth getting right. The threshold looks at hours worked for one household employer, not your total hours across several families.

Someone who cleans for five different homes a few hours each may not cross 40 with any single one of them, even while working a full week overall. By contrast, a full-time nanny for one family generally does. If you work for one household most of the week and pick up a little elsewhere, the steady job is the one to look at first.

Who is treated as the employer

Often the family you work for is the employer responsible for carrying coverage. But not always. When a placement agency directs your work, sets your schedule, and pays you, the agency may be your employer for these purposes. In publicly funded home-care programs, the structure can be different again, with a fiscal intermediary or agency in the role.

This matters because coverage follows the employer. If you are unsure who that is in your situation, the answer shapes whose insurance should respond if you are hurt. Being paid in cash does not erase your status; it just makes your hours and pay harder to prove, so hold on to texts, calendars, and any payment records. Even if you are not certain you cross 40 hours, do not assume you are shut out, because hours can be disputed and a worker who was told there is no coverage may turn out to be covered once the real schedule is examined. None of this is legal advice; it is a starting point for understanding how the domestic-worker rule operates.

Quick examples

• Likely covered: a full-time nanny working 45 hours a week for one family; a live-in housekeeper for a single household.
• Often not covered (under the 40-hour rule): a housecleaner doing a few hours each at five different homes, with no single household reaching 40.
• Depends on the facts: a home attendant placed and paid through an agency — the agency may be the responsible employer.

If you are hurt, what to keep

Because coverage turns on hours and on who the employer is, the records that prove those facts matter most. Hold on to anything that shows your schedule and pay — texts about hours, a calendar, a pay app history, or notes — and anything that shows who directed and paid for your work. Being paid in cash does not erase your status; it only makes the hours harder to prove, which is exactly why the records help.

Key points to remember

• The 40-hour threshold is measured per household employer, not across all your jobs.
• Live-in workers are generally treated as covered.
• An agency or fiscal intermediary can be the employer instead of the family.
• If you were told there is no coverage, hours can be disputed — do not assume you are shut out.

This is general educational information about how the domestic-worker rule operates in New York, not legal advice. If you are hurt and unsure whether you are covered, the Workers’ Compensation Board or a qualified attorney can help you sort out the facts.