Good news — the Obama administration announced today that labor standards will be extended to home healthcare workers.
On Tuesday, the Department of Labor announced a rule change to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that will finally expand protections to cover home care workers. President Obama had pledged in 2011 to undo a labor law loophole known as the “companionship exemption” to grant these workers the same labor protections enjoyed by other workers, and now they will be guaranteed minimum wage and overtime pay.
What does this mean? It means the home care workers who already pull ridiculous shifts will have to be paid for overtime.
I personally know a home healthcare worker who, in addition to being on-call, also works far more hours than anyone else I know while making less money.
The best outcome of these new standards would be hiring more employees and reducing the workload of those putting in 60 to 80 hours per week.