I 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5970 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 19, 2012 Mr. Walberg (for himself, Mr. Terry, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Gowdy, and Mrs. Schmidt) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing a proposed rule relating to the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to domestic service employees.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protecting In-Home Care from Government Intrusion Act.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The United States has a growing number of the elderly and individuals with disabilities who depend on companion care to live in their own homes. (2)In 1974, Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to ensure the elderly and individuals with disabilities have access to affordable companion care by exempting such care from overtime and minimum wage requirements. (3)Regulations proposed by the Department of Labor will adversely impact access to companion care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities by increasing the cost of care. (4)With the increased cost of companion care brought on by the proposed regulations, many of the elderly and individuals with disabilities will not be able to afford in-home care and instead may be forced to enter institutional care settings. (5)The proposed regulations will shift companion care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities to a labor market where caregivers receive insufficient background screening, training, and supervision. (6)The proposed regulations will reduce and limit the overall incomes of caregivers and restrict their working hours as employers are forced to control additional costs that cannot be absorbed by the vulnerable clients and taxpayer-funded programs financing companion care. (7)The proposed regulations will raise costs for the small businesses that provide companion care by increasing caregiver turnover rates and hiring, training, supervision, and compensation costs. (8)In-home care is the mode of care preferred by the elderly and individuals with disabilities in terms of cost, quality of life, and service satisfaction, all of which are jeopardized by the proposed regulations.

3.

Rule relating to domestic service employees

The Secretary of Labor shall not finalize or enforce the proposed rule entitled Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act to Domestic Service and published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 81190) or any substantially similar rule.