Home health aides and their advocates are pushing the City Council to pass legislation that would restrict their hours — a move that is facing pushback from the union that represents them.
The bill, sponsored by Councilman Chris Marte, who represents Lower Manhattan, would limit a home care aide’s shift to 12 hours. It would also cap the total to 50 hours per week.
This would effectively end 24-hour shifts, a practice common in New York City, according to advocates.
Marte said his mother’s background working as a 24-hour home care attendant was a driving force behind the legislation.
“I've been able to, as a child, see the damage it does to someone who's working around the clock, and taking care of the most vulnerable people,” Marte said.
Workers assigned to 24-hour shifts are only paid for 13 hours, according to state law. It’s based on the idea that aides will get eight hours of sleep, at least five of which is uninterrupted, and three hours for meals.
But this is often not the case, according to home care aides and advocates who support the bill.
Leslie Palacio, who lives in the Bronx, has worked as a home health aide for the past 13 years.
She said she’s had to skip meals and often has not been able to sleep during the 24-hour shifts. She has sometimes worked these shifts four or five days in one week.
“You can't even bat an eye,” Palacio said in Spanish through a translator. “The patient is screaming their head off at night and you have to attend to their every need....
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