The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would exempt hospice, home health and personal care aides from minimum wage and overtime requirements.
The proposal, if finalized, would eliminate requirements instituted in a 2013 regulation. The move is part of the Trump administration’s overall effort to de-regulate across the board.
“One of President Trump’s very first actions was directing his cabinet to dismantle the mountain of outdated rules that have held back American workers and businesses for far too long,” Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. “The Department of Labor is proud to lead the way by eliminating unnecessary regulations that stifle growth and limit opportunity.”
If approved, the proposed rule would mean that employers would no longer be required to pay aides at least the $7.25-per-hour federal minimum wage or to pay overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This could affect more than 3.7 million workers, according to the proposed rule.
A public comment period on the rule is open until Sept. 2.
The Labor Department indicated that the proposed rule would reduce the cost of home-based care, including compliance costs. The department also said it expects the proposed rule to improve access to care by creating an incentive for providers to enter or expand into the market.
The agency also contends that eliminating these requirements would allow aides who work for more than one home-based care company for over 40 hours a week to move to working for a single agency.
The proposed rule indicated that the roll back of minimum wage rights would not impact most aides because the median hourly wage for those workers hovers around $16.12 an hour.
“However, losing the right to receive overtime pay could result in home care workers working additional overtime hours at straight-time pay and/or receiving less pay for the overtime work they would perform in the absence of this proposed rule,” the proposed rule read. “These potential effects – longer work hours and/or less pay – could negatively impact the morale of affected home care workers and lead to increased employee turnover and difficulty attracting skilled workers to the industry.”
