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Home Health & Hospice Week

Labor Law:

Lawmakers Want To Kill HHA Companionship Exemption

Published on Tue Jul 06, 2010

New legislation tackles the hotly contested topic. The way your agency furnishes home care aides could change drastically if new legislation on the matter succeeds. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) have introduced the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act, which would eliminate the companionship exemption to the Fair LaborStandards Act wage and overtime laws for home care workers. Currently, certain aides are exempt from FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements due to the provision. Last year Sanchez spearheaded a letter from 15 Democratic senators urging Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to exclude the exemption for "professional" caretakers -- aides employed by a home health agency. The Obama administration indicated a willingness to look into the matter, but no further changes have come about. The exemption has been a hot button issue for unions in recent years. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the exemption for aides [...]
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