Household Workers' Rights, a Bay Area non-profit women's association, was organized March 1979 by employee members of the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Board #15. In 1976, the IWC had first covered household workers with benefits such as lunch breaks, overtime pay, and reporting time pay (household worker reports to place of employment but is locked out and thus unable to work.) Because of the nature and isolation of household work, law enforcement was problematic. Household Workers' Rights, originally a Union WAGE project, attempted to alleviate some of the problems which were faced by the workers, mostly women and two-thirds of them minority women.

Their first program had three points emphasizing legal rights: 1) to get employment agencies to advise workers and employers of laws; 2) to provide legal assistance to workers when necessary; and 3) to draw up contracts which could be presented at the time of hire. This contract included legal requirements of Wage Order #15, sick leave, vacation pay and holiday pay.

When Union WAGE disbanded in 1982, Household Workers' Rights continued on its own. In January 1984, Household Workers' Rights became a membership organization with an elected board and member participation in the decision making. At that time the group organized an employment referral service. A non-toxic environmental housecleaning service was offered, in addition to sponsoring conferences, compiling a chart in Spanish and English on alternative non-toxic clearners, and conducting workshops on non-toxic cleaning. A newsletter was published every two months.

In January 1986, the group divided due to financial problems and ideological differences. Only a small number of women, operating out of an office in Berkeley, continued to concern themselves with a non-toxic cleaning service, putting out the newsletter and maintaining a referral service.

In addition to Joyce Maupin, who did much of the organizing, fundraising and work on the newsletter, Regina Ryerson was the group's non-toxic expert and Lucia Diaz was responsible for Spanish outreach and translation.