Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act
This bill, titled the Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act, seeks to preserve the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemptions for companionship services and live-in domestic services. Specifically, it would ensure that workers who provide non-medical in-home care to seniors or individuals with disabilities—and who are employed by families or by third-party employers (such as home care agencies)—remain exempt from certain minimum wage and overtime requirements. The bill codifies definitions for companionship services and domestic service, clarifies that third-party employment falls within these exemptions, and removes references suggesting these terms are solely defined by regulatory authorities. The sponsor identified is Mrs. Miller of Illinois, and the bill was introduced in the House on March 24, 2025. In short, the bill aims to maintain current wage-and-hour exemptions for a broad set of in-home care workers, including those hired through agencies, to preserve affordable access to home care for seniors and people with disabilities. It also sets out specific definitions and limits (e.g., up to 20 percent of weekly hours for general household work) to delineate what counts as companionship services.
Key Points
- 1Explicitly preserves the companionship services exemption for minimum wage and overtime, and the live-in domestic services exemption for overtime, including when provided via third-party employment (e.g., home care agencies).
- 2Adds statutory definitions for companionship services, domestic service, and third-party employment, clarifying which activities are included (and what is excluded, such as care provided by trained medical personnel like nurses).
- 3Sets boundaries for companionship services, including that general household work may comprise up to 20 percent of total weekly hours spent on such services.
- 4Removes the reference that these terms are solely defined and delimited by the Secretary’s regulations, signaling a statutory codification of the definitions.
- 5Allows third-party employers to qualify for these exemptions, ensuring agency workers and family-employed workers delivering these services remain exempt from certain overtime requirements.