None of the Labor Department’s companionship regulation is valid, according to the latest ruling by a federal judge on a suit challenging the regulation’s requirement for overtime payments to unskilled home support workers.
 
In a Jan. 14 opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., declared that Labor exceeded the authority granted by Congress when it narrowed the definition of companionship services qualified for the overtime exemption. 
 
In an initial Dec. 22 opinion, the judge found Labor exceeded its authority when it declared in the companionship regulation — which took effect Jan. 1 — that only home support workers employed directly by the person who needs their help or by family members acting as the employer can be exempt from the overtime requirement.
 
If Judge Leon’s decisions hold, private duty agencies would continue to be exempt from overtime payments.