WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a public comment opposing the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule, “Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act to Domestic Service,” which would eliminate hard-won wage and hour protections for millions of the nation’s paid caregivers, who are disproportionately Black and Brown women and are among the poorest workers in the labor force.
The proposal would change the definition of in-home “companionship” services under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law whose protections include a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay for work performed beyond 8 hours in a single day, or 40 hours in a single week. Under the proposed new definition, millions of home care workers would no longer be entitled to those protections. Additionally, while agencies and other third-party employers of home care workers currently are required to comply with the FLSA, DOL proposes to excuse those employers from the statute’s requirements. These actions would undo DOL’s 2013 regulations, which extended FLSA protections to home care workers after decades of exclusion.
“Even though they currently are entitled to receive the minimum wage and overtime, home care workers are among the most vulnerable in our nation’s labor force, facing wage theft and unsafe working conditions, and living in poverty,” said Gillian Thomas, senior counsel in the ACLU Women's Rights Project. “The Department of Labor ’s proposed rule change would...
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission (ESC), the state’s main regulator, says it has suspended another business from the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program after alleged false claims. The ...