In yesterday's "Fair Pay for Caregivers," the New York Times editorial team urged the Department of Labor to change the regulation within the Fair Labor Standards Act that classifies home care workers as "companions," making them exempt from minimum wage protections and overtime pay. Citing the hard work and critical role they play with an aging boomer population, the NY Times editorial declares that "Home care aides should not have to wait any longer for the fair pay they have been denied for so long."
It's been over two years since the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the 1974 interpretation of the FLSA law ("Long Island Care at Home v. Coke"), denying home care workers a living wage and overtime compensation. That definition of the law essentially put the teenager who occasionally watches your kids on the same level with a worker trained to provide full-time and long term care for seniors and disabled persons with essential care needs. Under a new administration, this ruling did give the Labor Department--not the court--the right to change that interpretation under a new administration. However, more than two years later, the regulation still stands.
Sadly, one of the women who played a leading role in the fight for increased wages and paid overtime for in-home care aides, Mrs. Evelyn Coke, passed away today. Ms. Coke was the plaintiff in the "Long Island Care at Home v. Coke" case challenging the "companionship exemption" for home care workers. Read more about Mrs. Coke in the New York Times article highlighting her struggle for justice and a fair wage.
Support to extend federal overtime and minimum-wage requirements to home care workers--a growing labor force that earns average hourly wages lower than that of all other jobs in healthcare--has been increased in recent months. In June, a group of 15 Senators led by Senator Harkins (D-IA) sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis advocating for the Department of Labor to expand federal wage and hour laws to the estimated 1.5 million home care workers in the U.S.
"In the three decades since the exemption was created, the numbers of home care workers and their responsibilities have expanded dramatically as the population has aged and more and more people are choosing long-term care services in their homes rather than in institution," reads the letter sent to the DOL.Secretary Solis responded with a statement saying she shares the concerns of the Senators who are advocating for fair treatment of home care workers, telling an AP reporter that her department was looking into whether the exemption should be overturned. Since that time, no real steps have been taken towards the federal reform that is urgently needed to provide home care workers with the compensation and respect they deserve. Please ask Department of Labor Secretary Solis to include home care workers in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act
