Why the Fair Labor Standards Act
Matters to Homecare Workers
On December 15,2011, President
Obama announced a proposal to
give homecare workers minimum
wage and overtime rights under
federal law.SEI(|has been fighting
for this change for years, and one of
our members was even on hand at
the White House for the Presidents
announcement.
However, the regulations are not
yet final, and homecare workers
and our allies spoke out to let the. \
Department of Labor (DOL) know
how important this rule change is
to the people who actually do this'
work. Homecare workers from across
the country submitted comments
in favor of the proposed change to
i|| Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Dignity for homecare as an
occupation: Homecare work is how
our members support themselves
and their families and is critical to
helping consumers stay in their
homes instead of being forced into
institutions. Our members provide
much more than informal or casual
companionship. Treating them as
companions under the existing
exemption robs them of dignity
and respect merited by this legitimate
and important occupation.
Quality care for consumers: Many
homecare consumers struggle
to obtain continuity of care in
an occupation plagued by high
worker turnover that often leaves
consumers with inexperienced
or untrained replacements. FLSA
coverage is an important step
toward addressing the low pay
and uncompensated work and
travel time that give experienced
caregivers little incentive to remain
in the occupation.
and some members from New York
and California even traveled tb
Washington D.C. for a key hearing on
the rule change.
Background:
•
•
The FLSA is the basic federal law
’ providing minimum vyage and
■ overtime protection to most
American workers.
Workforce development:
The rapidly aging population
and a shift toward home- and
community-based services has
created an unmet demand for
homecare services. Individual
consumers—particularly those
who lack pre-existing relationships
with caregivers—are simply
unable to recruit the needed
workers into an occupation that
pays near-poverty wages, and
homecare agencies that wish to
do the right thing face significant
competitive pressure from those
that exploit the current loophole.
FLSA coverage will help attract
workers to thFs occupation in order
to meet the growing demand for
homecare services.
Currently, the FLSA does not
apply to most homecare workers.
Some homecare workers are
protected by state laws, but many
are not.
The proposed regulations would
provide:
Fairness for workers: The FLSA
provides basic minimum wage and
overtime protections to nearly every
other American worker, including
workers providing identical personal
care assistance services in nursing
homes.
•
Congressional intent: Congress
extended the FLSA to domestic
service employment in 1974
because it recognized the
exploitative conditions faced by
the largely female and minority
domestic workforce including
low wages, irregular hours, and
few non-wage benefits. Many
homecare workers today face
similarly difficult conditions. The
narrow exemption Congress
carved out for "companionship"
was intended to exclude casual
or irregular work performed by
friends and neighbors, not work
done as a regulär vocation such
as is performed by our members
working in state Medicaid
programs.
Good jobs: In a struggling
economy, it simply does
normake sense to let such
a significant and rapidly
expanding occupation develop
as a grey-market industry not
covered by basic employment
laws. Rather, FLSA coverage will
mark a significant step toward
creating the type of good jobs
needed to attract people into
an occupation so critical to
our nation's rapidly expanding
elderly population.