long island care v. coke

The Department of Labor continues carrying out its aggressive regulatory agenda, releasing the much-anticipated final rule extending FLSA minimum wage and overtime protection to direct care workers such as home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants working for home care agencies and other domestic services employers, and reversing the application of

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%

As noted in our recent article regarding proposed amendments to the FLSA, individuals providing care to the infirm or elderly in a private home are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements pursuant to the companionship exemption, an exemption which was reviewed by the Supreme Court in its 2007 decision Long Island Care