Private Care Association Discusses How Proposed FLSA Regulations Will Affect Home Care and Relationships

Industry Feels Changes to Companionship Exemption Act Will Affect Quality of In-Home CareFEBRUARY 17, 2012 – On December 27, 2011 the Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise the companionship and live-in worker regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If approved, the rule would significantly narrow a 1974 exemption for companions for the elderly and / or ill from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which would require that they be paid overtime. The private home-care industry fears that this will make in-home healthcare more expensive and less