June 11, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The nation's growing cadre of home healthcare workers are not entitled to minimum wages or overtime pay under federal law, even if they work for private employers, the Supreme Court ruled today.
The 9-0 decision keeps in place a long-standing exemption to the minimum wage law for workers who provide "companionship services" at home to those who are sick or elderly.
With an estimated 1 million workers now assisting the elderly and the injured in their homes, unions and civil rights groups had urged the justices to repeal the rule because it deprives many of the nation's lowest-paid workers of a decent wage. These employees tend to be women and minorities and often work all night, but they do not earn enough to rise above the poverty level, the advocates said.
They won a ruling from a U.S. appeals court in New York that said the exemption did not extend to those who are employed by a private company or another employer. But the Supreme Court rejected the bid, holding that businesses are not required to pay the federal minimum wage or overtime to employees who provide home care services for the elderly. "The court's ruling is another blow to struggling, low-wage women," said Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women's Law Center.
"It means that home care workers, who are overwhelmingly low-income women of color, will continue to be unfairly treated despite providing essential services to our growing elderly and disabled population," Campbell said. "Employers in the home care industry should, like other businesses, be required to comply with modest, but vital, labor protections."
The suit had been brought on behalf of Evelyn Coke, a 73-year-old retiree, who was employed by Long Island Care at Home, a private company that provided home care aides for the elderly.
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