---
title: President Obama Responds To FLSA Rules; Spends a Day as a Home Aid
description: New Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules mandate that home health workers, including elder caregivers, be paid minimum wage.
---

[Household Employment Blog | Nanny Tax Information](https://info.homeworksolutions.com/blog)

# [President Obama Responds To FLSA Rules; Spends a Day as a Home Aid](https://info.homeworksolutions.com/blog/bid/101847/President-Obama-Responds-To-FLSA-Rules-Spends-a-Day-as-a-Home-Aid)

 Written by [Kathleen Webb](https://info.homeworksolutions.com/blog/author/kathleen-webb) | 4/10/14 1:30 PM

In a triumphant win for labor unions and worker advocacy groups, the Obama administration made sweeping reform in mandating that home health workers, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants who [provide care to the elderly](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/opinion/fairness-for-home-care-workers.html?_r=0) be paid minimum wage and overtime. While it may affect the bottom line for families of aging relatives, over [half of senior care givers were living at or below the poverty line](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/11/1193277/-Meet-the-fastest-growing-job-in-America-40-of-its-workers-are-on-public-assistance).

According to the [U.S. Department of Labor](http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=national/20130917.xml), over 2 million caregivers will now receive the same basic protections- such as [benefits and overtime protections](http://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/)- already provided to most U.S. workers. The benefits are two-fold:

- It will guarantee that [consistent, high quality senior care](http://www.mastersinhealthcare.com/blog/2013/in-home-health-care-could-be-safer/) will come from a professional, trained workforce. In a recent article on PeoplesWorld.org, Sarita Gupta of [Jobs With Justice](http://www.jwj.org/) is quoted as saying that "this is a major victory for the present home health workers \[and\] for the millions more who will be needed in the coming years as the U.S. population ages."

- The new laws reduce employee turnover and increase the number of committed workers who enter and stay in the home care profession. Dustin Distefano, CEO of A Place at Home, an agency that provides in-home senior care, says [in an article on Omaha.com](http://www.omaha.com/article/20130919/LIVEWELL26/130918584) “\[This is\] especially beneficial to those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, who might prefer one caregiver.”

These benefits are extended to [legal, documented employees](http://www.4nannytaxes.com/index.cfm/resources/elder-care-faq-list/household-employee-citizenship-work-authorization/), whether they are agency employees, referred by agency or registry servcies, Craigslist, newspapers or word-of-mouth through friends and family and go into effect nationwide on January 1, 2015.

**President Obama spends a day as a home care worker**

In a video issued by the White House, President Obama spent a day in 2007 with a home care worker as he was evaluating minimum wage and overtime legislation when he was a senator. In her piece in Forbes.com, [“Hiring Help For Aging Parents? Read This First.,”](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2013/09/20/the-loophole-in-the-new-dol-home-care-worker-rules/)Ashleah Ebeling hosts the video , which articulates [support for wage protection](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/15/providing-protections-home-care-workers) now provided to home care workers.

 

**Download our free [Household Employee Tax and Payroll Guide](https://info.homeworksolutions.com/nanny-payroll-quick-start-guide/) now.**

[View full post](https://info.homeworksolutions.com/blog/bid/101847/President-Obama-Responds-To-FLSA-Rules-Spends-a-Day-as-a-Home-Aid)

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