Labor Secretary ponders oversight of home workers

WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Friday she shares the concerns of lawmakers who want to apply federal wage and hour laws to an estimated 1.5 million home health-care workers.

Her comments came a day after 15 Democratic senators signed a letter urging her to reverse a Bush administration policy that excluded domestic health workers from laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay.

“As secretary of labor, I intend to fulfill the department’s mandate to protect America’s workers, including home health care aides, who work demanding work schedules and receive low wages,” Solis said.

Since 1974, the Fair Labor Standards Act has exempted certain household workers — such as baby sitters and companions for the ill or elderly — from laws governing wage and overtime requirements.

Many Democrats and union leaders argue that home care has evolved from casual work to full-time employment as the nation’s elderly population grows. Advocates of expanding the law argue that these workers — disproportionately women and recent immigrants — deserve a living wage.

Under the Bush administration, the Labor Department declined to apply wage and hour laws to home care workers. The Supreme Court upheld that interpretation, saying it would defer to the agency’s views. But Democrats say the court left the door open for the agency to reinterpret the same law.

Solis said the agency is examining whether its regulations “effectively express the statutory exemption.” She did not indicate when a decision would be made.

Health services companies that provide home care workers argue that extending wage and hour requirements would inflate costs for customers.

“We are concerned that it may negatively impact the person who’s most vulnerable in this situation, which is the person who’s receiving the services,” said Jordan Lindsey, a spokesman for the California Association for Health Services at Home.