Some very welcome news may break soon for the domestic workforce: the White House appears to be close to announcing a rule change to the Federal Labor Standards Act, finally including home health aides—those who bathe, nurse, toilet, and care for the elderly and disabled in their homes—in its protections. It may sound out of another century, and it is, but home health care workers had been excluded from federal overtime and minimum wage protections through a companionship exemption. It was designed to leave out only those who provided company, but had become so widely interpreted as to encompass a vital, booming workforce. The administration has long been sitting on the decision to change the rule, but outgoing Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis recently told The Nation, “there’ll be movement on that. We’ll shortly see progress made there.”
If and when this change is announced, this workforce will be formally recognized as “workers,” not babysitters making pin money.
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Workers, Not Babysitters
3 comments:
I wonder why home health care workers have been excluded all this time.
This sounds like a good thing.
Yes, a good thing. But it should also include screening.
If APS is given some type of oversight authority, this won't be a good thing.
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