A court ruling released Aug. 21 is in favor of agencies paying overtime wages to home care workers for live-in and companion services.
The Department of Labor (DOL) has won its bid against the Home Care Association of America, Et Al., in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to remove exemptions for home care agency workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for companionship and live-in services.
In its ruling, the three-judge panel states a 2007 Supreme Court decision confirms that the FLSA vests the DOL with the discretion to apply, or not, the companionship-services and live-in exemptions to employees of third-party agencies.
The ruling overturns a lower court, which in December and January sided with the plaintiffs, including the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), in their attempt to overturn Labor’s new rules that would have eliminated the exemptions earlier this year. Overtime exemption standards for home care workers had been in place for about 40 years.
Further, Labor’s decision to extend the FLSA’s protections to home care workers is “…grounded in a reasonable interpretation of the statute and is neither arbitrary nor capricious.” NAHC has argued that removing the exemption would harm consumers and caregivers, in part, by influencing businesses to take steps like restricting working hours for employees.
NAHC has predicted that if the ruling goes this way the losing side is likely to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Editor’s note: Attend the annual Private Duty Conference & Expo to network with peers and get strategies for how to comply with new minimum wage and overtime laws. Sign up today at: www.privatedutyconference.com.