Fair Home Health Care Act Would Secure Minimum Wage, Overtime Protections for Home Caregivers

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Service Employees International Union, the nation's largest healthcare union, applauded the introduction of federal legislation to close a loophole that denies home care workers overtime and minimum wage protections.

The bill was inspired by the plight of 73 year-old home care worker Evelyn Coke, who sued her employer after more than twenty years of work that sometimes entailed four 24-hour days a week, sleeping at a client's home, and rarely receiving time-and-a-half compensation for the overtime work hours.  In June of this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Coke, and one million caregivers like her, could be denied overtime pay and minimum wage as part of the "companionship exemption,"which categorizes home care workers as casual helpers, like babysitters.

The Fair Home Health Care Act, introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the Senate and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) in the House, would rectify this problem, providing to homecare workers the same basic workplace protections of overtime and a minimum wage guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.  

"The Fair Labor Standards Act has been anything but fair in the case of home care workers,"said SEIU Executive Vice President Gerry Hudson.  "The FLSA sees no difference between the teenager down the street that occasionally watches your kids and a person trained to provide long-term care for individuals with essential care needs." 

More than one million home care workers in the United States provide help with activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, cooking, cleaning and transferring. Even though the Department of Labor lists home care work as the nation's fastest growing occupation, its low wages, poor hours, and lack of health insurance, sick and vacation time have led to high turnover in the industry.  For the millions of seniors and people with disabilities who live independently at home instead of in more costly institutions, these employment conditions have made it difficult to find and keep caregivers.   

"As the baby boom generation ages, the number of people needing care at home is expected to double,"continued Hudson. "If we hope to meet the needs of this growing elderly population, we must invest in a living wage and health care coverage for home care workers.  This legislation is a critical first step in that direction, and I urge our leaders in Congress to pass it as quickly as possible."

Evelyn Coke was supported by SEIU, along with other organizations submitting amicus briefs, including AARP, Older Women's League, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Association of People with Disabilities, National Women's Law Center, and the ACLU.

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