Houston Chronicle

An appeals court revives rules that protect wages for home health care workers.

- By Sam Hananel

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday revived Obama administra­tion regulation­s that guarantee overtime and minimum wage protection to nearly 2 million home health care workers.

The ruling was a victory for worker advocacy groups and labor unions that have long sought higher wages for domestic workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing or taking medicine.

It also was a win for the White House, which proposed the rules four years ago as part of an effort to go around an unwilling Congress in a bid to help lowwage workers through executive action.

A federal judge had scrapped the Labor Department rules this year after finding that the agency had oversteppe­d its authority. Since 1974, federal law has exempted home care workers hired through third-party staffing agencies from wage and OT requiremen­ts.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Labor Department has the power to interpret the law to change that exemption.

Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Sri Srinivasan cited a “dramatic transforma­tion” of the home care industry over the past four decades as a valid reason for the change. While most caregivers used to be directly employed by individual households, the vast majority of workers now work for staffing companies, Srinivasan said.

He also noted a massive shift to providing care for the elderly in their own homes rather than in nursing homes, which requires workers to offer more advanced medical care and assistance to clients than the mere “companions­hip” services envisioned in 1974.

Two judges on the panel, Srinivasan and Nina Pillard, were appointed by President Barack Obama. Thomas Griffith was appointed by President George W. Bush.

The rules were to take effect Jan. 1, but that was delayed by the suit. A Labor Department spokesman said the new effective date depends on the lawsuit being “fully resolved.”

Deane Beebe, a vice president at the worker advocacy group PHI, said the rules would help the industry stabilize a workforce that has up to 50 percent turnover each year.

Home health care companies employing many of the workers have said overtime requiremen­ts would make it tougher for families to afford home care for aging parents.

William Dombi, a vice president at the National Associatio­n for Home Care, said industry officials were considerin­g options, including an appeal to the Supreme Court.

A coalition of nine states opposes the new rules, arguing they will increase state Medicaid costs and expose states to an unfunded liability. Texas is one of the states.

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