Homecare Workers

It was only recently that direct care workers, such as home health aides, became eligible for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

On October 1, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor issued the Home Care Final Rule ("Final Rule") to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to almost 2 million direct care workers, including home health aides, personal care aides, certified nursing assistants, and caregivers. The Final Rule was challenged in federal court, but on August 21, 2015, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in Home Care Association of America v. Weil, 78 F.Supp. 3d 123 (D.C.Cir. 2015), issued a unanimous opinion affirming the validity of the Final Rule.

Under the Final Rule, as of January 1, 2015, companies that provide home health care services to customers are required to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for the hours they worked over 40 each workweek.

This new overtime regulation will apply to direct care workers if any of the following conditions are satisfied:

• You are employed by an agency or another employer other than the person you assist or that person's family or household. If you are employed by an agency that assigns you to clients to provide care in the client's home, you must be paid overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for the hours they worked over 40 each workweek.
• Your duties include performing or providing medically related services, such as catheter care or tube feedings. It does not matter if you are not certified or not licensed to perform the medical services. Any employee that performs medical services is entitled to the federal minimum wage and overtime rate.
• You spend more than 20% of your work time helping the person you assist with activities of dialing living and instrumental activities of dialing living, such as dressing, grooming, driving, preparing meals, doing light housework.
• You perform duties that primarily benefit members of the household, other than the person you assist. If you make meals for another family member or if you do that family member's laundry you are covered by the new regulation and entitled to overtime compensation for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.

If you meet one of the categories above, you are entitled to overtime compensation at a rate of one and one-half times your regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.