Evelyn Coke, a domestic worker who provided companionship services in New York, sued her employer, Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. She alleged that the company didn’t pay her overtime wages, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The employer asked the court to dismiss the suit because Coke and workers like her are exempt from overtime compensation. The employer pointed to a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulation creating a minimum wage and overtime exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for “companionship” workers who “are employed by an employer or agency other than the family or household using their services.” Coke, however, argued that the regulation was invalid because it conflicted with another DOL rule and with Congress’s intent to provide broad wage protections for all workers.
Victory for Employer
The U.S. Supreme Court has now ruled unanimously that the DOL exemption rule is valid and exempts companionship workers like Coke—who are employed by an agency or another third-party employer—from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements.
This decision makes it clear that home health aides and other workers who provide in-home companionship services—whether employed by the person they’re providing care for, a third party, or an agency—are exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime rules.
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Keep in mind that the exemption the Supreme Court addressed applies only to employees who perform “companionship services.” This includes services for the care, fellowship, and protection of persons who because of advanced age or physical or mental infirmity can’t care for themselves. Services include household work such as meal preparation, bed making, clothes washing, and other similar personal services. General household work cannot exceed 20 percent of the total weekly hours worked by the companion. If this 20 percent limit is exceeded, the exemption is lost—which means the employee must be paid for all hours in compliance with the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA.
California Rules
The Supreme Court’s ruling has a limited impact in California, which has a narrower exemption than the FLSA for these workers. In particular, California’s wage and hour law provides an overtime exemption for “personal attendants” who are hired to provide home care to elderly or ill individuals or children. The exemption applies whether the worker is employed by a third party or by the individual’s household. These workers do not have to be paid overtime. However, they are still entitled to receive the state minimum wage (currently $7.50 per hour and set to increase to $8 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008). As with the federal exemption, the state overtime exemption will be lost if more than 20 percent of the person’s work is general household work, as opposed to performing personal services for the individual being cared for.
Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke, U.S. Supreme Court No. 06-593, 2007