Wage Protection Planned for Home Care Workers
The Obama administration said on Thursday that it would propose regulations to give the nation’s nearly two million home-care workers minimum wage and overtime protection after those workers had long been exempted from coverage.
Labor unions and advocates for low-wage workers have pushed for the changes, asserting that the 37-year-old exemption improperly swept these workers, who care for many elderly and disabled Americans, into the same “companion” category as baby sitters. The administration’s move calls for home-care aides to be protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the nation’s main wage and hour law, as most other workers are.
“The nearly 2 million in-home care workers across the country should not have to wait a moment longer for a fair wage,” President Obama said in a statement. “They work hard and play by the rules and they should see that work and responsibility rewarded.”
These workers, according to industry figures, generally earn $8.50 to $10 an hour — around $17,000 to $20,000 a year — compared with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. In its announcement, the White House said 92 percent of these workers are women, nearly 30 percent are African-American and 12 percent Hispanic, with nearly 40 percent of them relying on public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/business/wage-protection-planned-for-home-care-workers.html
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