Federal Labor Department Expands Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections to More Domestic Care Workers

The federal Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) regulations that will extend the act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements to about two million more direct care workers such as home health and personal care aides and certified nursing assistants.  Among other things, the new regulations cover all direct care workers employed by home care agencies or other third parties.  They also further define the “companionship services” that are exempt from the requirements.  Individual workers remain exempt if they are (1) employed directly by the person receiving services or that person’s family or household and (2) engaged primarily in fellowship, protection, and care incidental to those activities.  The new regulations take effect on January 1, 2015.  Additional information can be found on DOL's website.