On September 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor issued final regulations, effective January 2015, that apply the federal minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act to most of the two-million-plus home care workers in the United States. The new rules significantly narrow the “companionship exemption” that has long excluded home care workers from basic federal wage and hour protections. The reforms correct a decades-old injustice that has fueled poverty wages and destabilized an increasingly vital industry. The National Employment Law Project has published a fact sheet that outlines the major regulatory changes and their effects on workers, the industry, and the states. The revised rules make two main changes to the companionship regulations. First, they clarify and narrow what constitutes exempt “companionship services.” Second, they provide that third-party employers, such as home care agencies, will no longer be able to claim either the minimum wage or overtime exemption. The Labor Department also strengthened the record-keeping requirements for employers of live-in domestic workers. Lebau & Neuworth attorneys have successfully recovered owed wages for home care workers in several recent cases. Call us at (410) 296-3030 if you think you may be owed wages.
