Prior to Jan. 1, 2015, many workers who provided home care assistance to elderly people and those with illnesses, injuries or disabilities were not entitled to receive federal minimum wage and overtime pay protections.
The Department of Labor announced back on Sept. 17, 2013, that things would change in 2015. Why are republicans like U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback trying to stop the overtime for these hard-working people?
Third-party employers are quick to say the law doesn’t mean they will pay their employees more. Rather, once an employee hits 40 hours, another employee will take his or her place. This will supposedly result in the elderly patient getting multiple care givers, where before they could have one trusted care giver.
But U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez noted that this change will affect about 2 million home care workers, an estimated 40 percent of whom currently rely on public assistance like Medicaid and food stamps because of the profession’s low pay.
“For almost 40 years, direct care workers have been denied basic employment rights,” Perez said. “A fair wage will further stabilize and professionalize this critical line of work, which of course will lead to better quality care.”
Perez called the rule a win-win solution for both home care workers and the people for whom they are caring. It seems only fair.