University of New Hampshire Scholars\u27 Repository
Abstract
This brief examines overtime hours and hourly wages among home care workers (home health aides and personal care aides) and compares them with hospital and nursing home aides. These aides engage in similar work for their clients, even though they work in different institutional settings. Yet, home health aides and personal care aides have higher poverty rates (20 percent and 28 percent, respectively) than hospital aides and nursing home aides (about 12 percent for both). In addition, they typically work fewer hours per week, have lower rates of health insurance coverage, rely on public assistance to a greater extent, and receive lower hourly wages. Author Kristin Smith discusses the impact of the Department of Labor\u27s issued proposed rule changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that would narrow the companionship exemption so that most home care workers would no longer be exempt from overtime pay and minimum wage requirements
