Effective January 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s amended regulation concerning the employment of live-in domestic service workers goes into effect. That amended regulation prohibits third party employers, like home care agencies, from claiming an overtime exemption for live-in domestic workers they employ. While individuals and families who employ live-in domestic workers may still claim the overtime exemption, companies that employ those workers may not.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) covers persons employed in domestic service in private homes. The FLSA entitles domestic workers to the federal minimum wage and overtime pay at time and a half the regular rate of pay. Live-in domestic service workers may, however, be exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirement. Prior to the DOL’s amendment of its regulation, any employer of a live-in domestic could claim the overtime exemption, regardless of the type of employer.
As of January 1, 2015, that will change. As the DOL has explained, “effective January 1, 2015, third party employers, such as home care agencies, may not claim the overtime exemption for live-in domestic workers, and must pay such workers at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at one and a half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek, even if the worker is jointly employed by the household.”
For more information about the DOL’s amended regulations, click here.
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