Print 
PDFFrom Colorlines:
President Obama and Secretary of Labor Solis announced that the U.S. Department of Labor will move forward to amend regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act to include the nearly 2 million homecare workers who are currently excluded from federal overtime and minimum wage protections.
“They work hard and play by the rules,” Obama said about the homecare workers that often bathe, feed and administer medical care for patients—sometimes, days, nights and weeks at a time. “Today’s action will ensure that these men and women get paid fairly for a service that a growing number of older Americans couldn’t live without,” Obama said in a statement.
Of the 1.79 million home care workers, 1.59 million are employed by staffing agencies of which over 92% are women, nearly 30% are African American, 12% are Latino and close to 40% rely on public benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps, according to the White House.
“The vast majority of these workers are women, many of whom serve as the primary breadwinner for their families. This proposed regulation would ensure that their work is properly classified so they receive appropriate compensation and that employers who have been treating these workers fairly are no longer at a competitive disadvantage,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.
Currently, workers classified as ‘companions’ are exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.
(h/.t Kay Whitlock)
(8)