Are you up-to-date on the lawsuit between the DOL and the Home Care Association of America? The ruling will have a big impact on overtime protections.

1. How
the
DOL’s
Overtime
Regulation
Impacts
Your
Home
Care
Agency
In
October
2013,
President
Obama
issued
an
Executive
Order
that
extended
the
Fair
Labor
Standards
Act
(also
known
as
FLSA)
to
home
care
workers
that
were
originally
exempted
when
the
act
was
passed
in
1938.
Because
of
this,
the
Department
of
Labor
developed
overtime
rules
for
home
care
workers
that
were
going
to
be
implemented
on
January
1,
2015.
The
Home
Care
Association
of
America
and
other
home
care
lobbying
groups
filed
a
lawsuit
in
early
September
against
the
Department
of
Labor’s
regulation.
And,
hours
before
the
new
regulation
was
going
to
go
into
effect,
a
U.S.
District
Court
delayed
it
until
January
15,
2015.
The
Verdict:
January
14,
2015
On
January
14,
2015,
a
federal
judge
in
the
district
court
of
Washington,
D.C.
vacated
the
federal
rule
that
requires
overtime
protections
for
home
care
workers.
It’s
still
left
in
the
hands
of
the
U.S.
Department
of
Labor,
which
can
appeal
this
decision
on
behalf
of
the
home
care
employees
who
have
waited
years
for
this
basic
level
of
protection.

2. Several
departments
of
social
services
from
states
around
the
country
have
announced
that
they
will
not
implement
any
overtime
pay
for
home
care
workers
due
to
the
ruling
that
overturned
the
Department
of
Labor’s
rule.
The
Home
Care
Association
of
America
and
other
groups
strongly
disagree
with
these
announcements.
The
Impact
of
the
Verdict
The
fact
that
states
are
not
going
to
implement
any
type
of
overtime
pay,
travel
time,
or
even
wait
time
for
home
care
workers
is
going
to
significantly
impact
employees
in
the
industry.
Home
care
workers
will
be
paid
as
they
have
been
for
years—with
no
caps
on
hours.
Not
surprisingly,
home
care
workers
are
up
in
arms
about
this
decision.
What
Can
Home
Care
Agencies
Do?
Home
care
agencies
can
petition
their
state’s
decision
(if
that
state
has
decided
to
not
allow
overtime
pay).
Hopefully
the
U.S.
Department
of
Labor
will
appeal
the
decision
of
the
federal
courts
but,
until
that
occurs,
home
care
employees
will
not
be
paid
any
additional
pay
for
working
extra
hours.
Should
Your
Agency
Pay
Overtime?
Some
agencies
may
elect
to
pay
their
workers
overtime
despite
the
court
ruling.
However,
this
pay
will
not
be
reimbursed
by
medical
insurance
plans
so
you
will
need
to
see
whether
your
budget
will
allow
you
to
pay
them
for
overtime.
For
more
information
about
what
this
regulation
means
and
the
ways
in
which
it
impacts
your
home
care
agency,
schedule
a
consultation
with
one
of
Kenyon
HomeCare
Consulting’s
home
care
experts
at
www.KenyonHCC.com.