Home Health Care Workers Excluded from the FLSA: Not for long?

Can you believe that it is 2011 and home health care employees are NOT guaranteed a minimum wage under federal law? I hope that is about to change! In August 2010, Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) filed the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act (H.R. 5902), a bill that would extend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

This legislation would provide home care workers federal minimum wage and overtime protections. Home care workers are currently excluded from the basic workplace standards generally taken for granted by most working people. By being excluded from the FLSA, the home care workers are not provided the important employee benefits within the Act. Such benefits include a minimum wage and overtime premiums.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis has said this issue is on the DOL list of regulatory items to address, but doesn't think anything will happen before October. We can expect the DOL's decisions later this year. Hopefully the millions of home health care workers that ensure the safety and well-being of our elderly will be guaranteed the minimum wage and overtime protections of the FLSA in due time.

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Brandon J. Lauria, Esquire is an employment attorney at the distinguished law firm of the Young Law Group located just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Lauria represents individuals and class action members in a wide array of employment matters. For a free consultation, call 215.367.5151.

Employer Overtime Violations At All Time High

Let's face it, the last few years have been tough as the rich get richer and . . . well, you know the rest of the story.  As working people struggle to get by, big companies continue to rake in the profits.  Working people have become mere numbers on a balance sheet and so the plight of those are find it difficult appears to be falling on deaf ears.  Talk of a climbing stock market and a recovering economy has done nothing to provide good paying and honest jobs for those who want and need them.  One of the first things that many employers do when times get tough is to take it out on the working men and women who help their companies go.  They do this by cutting wages and benefits in order to return "profits" to shareholders.  One of the ways that employers cut wages is to misclassify workers as salaried and refuse to pay them overtime.  In many cases, workers believe they are moving up the corporate ladder because they are given a new title such as "Assistant Store Manager" and put on a salary.  However, many quickly learn that they have been scammed.  These workers are all of the sudden required to work 10, 20, even 30 hours more per week for less pay than before.  What these workers don't realize is that depending on the type of work they are actually performing, they still may be entitled to overtime.  If you or someone you know, has experienced this type of problem, contact an experienced overtime lawyer immediately to see if you have a claim.  These types of problems have become rampant.  Last month, the United States Department of Labor announced that for the first time in its history, due to the sheer volume of calls coming into its office, that it will begin referring cases out to private lawyers to assure that aggrieved workers get the help they need.  This is truly a remarkable development and is another reminder of how the gap between the fortunate and the unfortunate has continued to grow.

WPA Poster Gallery

These are all posters from the The Works Progress Administration (WPA.) The WPA was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community in the United States had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency, which especially benefited rural and Western populations. Expenditures from 1936 to 1939 totaled nearly $7 billion.