Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Extended to Skilled Home Care Workers

​The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule extending the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections to most of the nation’s workers who provide home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries, or disabilities, states a September 17, 2013, DOL press release. According to the press release, the home care industry has grown dramatically over the last several decades, and despite the fact that direct care workers increasingly receive skills training and perform work previously done by trained nurses, they remain among the lowest-paid workers in the service industry. The final rule clarifies that direct care workers who perform medical-related services for which training is typically a prerequisite are not companionship workers and therefore are entitled to the minimum wage and overtime.