Home care workers could finally get overtime pay

A federal appeals courtroom has reinstated Obama administration laws that assure additional time and minimal wage protections to just about 2 million house well being care staff. In a 24-page opinion, Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote that the Labor Department’s decision to extend overtime and minimum wage protections “is grounded in a reasonable interpretation of the statute and is neither arbitrary nor capricious”.

The three-judge panel concluded that the Fair Labor Standards Act gave the Department of Labor authority to determine which in-home care services are exempt from minimum wage and overtime protections.

A new federal court decision has cleared the way for home aides in California and around the country to begin receiving overtime pay for their work.

The Home Care Association of America, one of the groups that challenged the DOL rule in court, argued that the agency had overstepped its authority. Under the latest rules, salaried employees earning less than $50,440 a year would be assured overtime, up from the previous threshold of $23,660 a year. “All options are under consideration, including a request for review by the U.S. Supreme Court”, he said.

When DOL issued the rule, which was set to take effect at the start of 2015, it said it was changing the definition because the industry had changed. Since the Obama administration proposed extending these basic protections to this largely female and vastly underpaid workforce in 2013, home care workers have gone from fighting opposition from industry trade groups and for-profit companies to leading a national movement to ensure working women in one of the fastest growing healthcare roles are paid $15 an hour. Professionals employed by third-party agencies had increasingly become the ones providing residential care over workers hired directly by care recipients and their families.

Laphonza Butler, who represents thousands of home care workers as a leader in the Service Employees worldwide Union, welcomed the court ruling. Workers will be paid time-and -a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week. The rule was opposed by the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has said it would make home-health care too expensive for some.

– This story was updated at 1:42 p.m.