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Home Health & Hospice Week

Labor Law:

Say Goodbye To Companionship Exemption Under Proposal

Published on Thu Jan 27, 2011

Watch out for related lawsuits, attorney warns. Get ready to shoulder a whole new administrative burden of tracking and limiting aides' hours, if a new proposal from the Department of Labor is finalized as is. On Dec. 15, the DOL released a proposed rule that will eliminate the companionship exemption for any home care workers employed by a third party -- i.e., any staff of home health agencies and private duty agencies. Observers had expected a change to the companionship exemption, since the Obama administration has been signaling that intention for years (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XVIII, No. 22, p. 170). Background: The companionship exemption exempts "companion" workers from Wage and Hour rules mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which require overtime payment and minimum wage. "Over time, home health aides have been absorbed into the FLSA's exemption for companionship and live-in domestic services," explains attorney Emily Miller with Cozen [...]
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