In 2013 the Department of Labor announced new regulatory language that substantially limited the scope of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s companionship exemption. Those regulations, of course, were challenged through litigation which remains ongoing, and their implementation by the USDOL was delayed until many months after the original effective date of January 1, 2015. Though
general household work
Ohio Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Application of Companionship Exemption to Home Health Aide
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Last week, an Ohio, a federal judge held that a home health aide failed to demonstrate that she performed general housework unrelated to the care of her patients, and therefore qualified as a provider of companionship services under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s previous formulation of the “companion” exemption. As such, the home health…
Fifth Circuit Upholds Companionship Exemption, Despite Allegations of General Household Work
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions, Minimum Wage
The Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Long Island Care at Home v. Coke, confirmed that the companionship exemption to minimum wage and overtime under the FLSA applies to individuals employed by third party agencies who provide companionship services in a private home. Regulations limit this exemption to companions who do not spend more than 20%…