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Direct hiring of senior caregivers by families continues to increase, and families have questions about minimum wage, overtime and whether to pay the elder caregiver when they are sleeping. US News and World Report recently noted that "by a 9-to-1 ratio, people prefer to stay in their homes as they get older rather than moving into an institution." They often become household employers as they hire individual home-care workers to help them age in place.
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, companionship services, companionship exemption, senior home-care workers
You have a new baby in the house, you are not sleeping well, and you need to line up a great nanny before you return to work. Or mom is declining and you have to hire a senior caregiver to stay with her while you are working because she just is not safe alone any longer. Hiring caregivers, whether a nanny for your children or someone to care for your aging loved one, is a stressful experience.
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, household payroll tax
Q. We have a regular babysitter. Most weeks she watches the children 3 afternoons/evenings a week, just until I get home from work, so my wife can attend classes. We only pay her $200 a week. I have heard about "nanny taxes" but since she is not full time or a real nanny, that doesn't apply to me, right?
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, babysitter nanny tax, housekeeper, cleaning lady, maid, summer nanny, companionship services, household payroll tax
The US DOL has proposed a series of rules changes that will result in a substantial number of elder care and home care workers being covered by the Fair Labor Standards Acts' (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime protections. This continues a trend of increased regulation and enforcement in the area of domestic service employees, with an increasing number of household workers being subject to Wage and Hour protections and enforcement. The proposal more strictly limits and defines the services of a "companion," and states that household employers MUST maintain accurate and contemporaneous time tracking records and pay household staff for every hour on duty. It also states that employees of third party employers such as staffing agencies are not exempt from minimum wage and overtime protections. Public comments will be solicited when the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, homecare, companionship services, companionship exemption
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, homecare, companionship services, companionship exemption
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as amended in 1974 extended minimum wage and overtime protections to most household workers.
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, homecare, companionship services, companionship exemption
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as amended in 1974, offers minimum wage and overtime protections to most household, or domestic, workers. What this means is that nannies, housekeepers, maids and other household employees are all protected under Federal minimum wage provisions, and that come and go (live out) domestics are entitled to the overtime differential (150% of hourly wage) for hours worked over 40 hours in a 7 day work week. A notable exception to this 1974 amendment was live in "companionship care" - companionship care for elderly and disabled individuals to allow them to continue to reside in their home, rather than moving to a residential care setting. This specific class of domestic workers were exempted from both the minimum wage and overtime protections of the FLSA. It is important to note that state legislation in CA, MD, NJ and NY all extend minimum wage and/or overtime protections to domestic workers in their state.
Topics: elder care, senior caregivers, homecare, companionship services, companionship exemption