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WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, introduced legislation yesterday to ensure that minimum wage and overtime pay protections apply to workers in the home health care industry.
The legislation comes in response to a June 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Long Island Care at Home Ltd. v. Coke case, which held that a 1975 U.S. Labor Department regulation renders home health care workers employed by third-party agencies are ineligible for overtime and minimum wage protections. Evelyn Coke, a retired home health care worker, sued her employer because she regularly worked overtime during her 20-year career and rarely received overtime pay.
“The Labor Department created this exemption for home health workers over three decades ago, when homecare, like babysitting, was largely provided by family and friends,” Woolsey said. “Since that time the entire industry has undergone a transformation, and the laws simply haven’t kept up. As a result we’re leaving many of the industry’s workers out in the cold when it comes to receiving the basic compensation that they deserve.”
Home healthcare workers earned an average of $9.20 per hour in 2003, compared with a U.S. average of $13.53 for the rest of the workforce that year. And nearly 20 percent of home health care workers earn annual incomes below the federal poverty level. They are twice as likely as other workers to receive food stamps and to lack health insurance.
Much of the growth in the home healthcare industry is linked to the increasing number of older of Americans, a trend that will continue as baby boomers age.
“Currently, 1.3 million Americans require long-term assistance to maintain their independence, and this need is expected to double as baby boomers age,” Woolsey said. “Providing workers with these wage protections will not only provide them with a living wage but will help attract workers to this rapidly growing occupation.”
Senator Harkin has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853
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