A federal judge on Wednesday struck down a new Labor Department regulation intended to require employers to pay more overtime to home caregivers for the elderly and disabled.
The administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
The regulation narrowed the definition of “care,” limiting the amount of time a worker could do their duties, such as cooking or cleaning for the care recipient, before they became subject to federal wage and overtime protections. The regulation would have required a strict accounting of a caregiver’s hours.
U.S District Judge Richard Leon said Wednesday that the department overstepped its authority with the regulation, noting that Congress had already addressed the matter. He also said that the regulations were incompatible with the nature of the work, which required flexible hours.
“Now the department is attempting to issue a regulation that would write out of the exemption the very ‘care’ the elderly and disabled need, unless it were drastically limited in the quantity provided so as to be of little practical use,” the judge said.
A Labor Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment at press time. The department told the National Law Journal that it “strongly” disagreed with the ruling and was considering its options.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., and Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mo., who chairs the subcommittee on workforce protections, urged the administration not to appeal the ruling.
“Congress created a broad exemption to help seniors and individuals with disabilities access affordable in-home care, and that policy has stood for decades under both Republican and Democrat administrations. Today’s judicial decision is welcome news for millions of families that rely on companionship services, and we urge the administration to accept the court’s ruling,” they said in a statement.
The regulation is part of a wider effort by the administration to force businesses into paying more overtime.
The Labor Department is currently finishing a new regulation for the broader workforce under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The regulation would raise the salary threshold before an employer could exempt a worker from overtime, current set at $23,000 annually. The rule is due to be released this spring. Early reports indicate the new threshold will be $42,000.
