[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2221 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2221

 To preserve the companionship services exemption for minimum wage and 
overtime pay, and the live-in domestic services exemption for overtime 
            pay, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 2015

  Mr. Roberts (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
Cornyn, Mr. Risch, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Flake, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
Vitter, Mr. Coats, and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; which 
  was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To preserve the companionship services exemption for minimum wage and 
overtime pay, and the live-in domestic services exemption for overtime 
            pay, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Access to Affordable and 
Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(z)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), `companionship 
services' as used in section 13(a)(15), means services that provide 
fellowship, care, and protection for individuals who, because of 
advanced age or physical or mental infirmity, are unable to care for 
themselves, including non-medical in-home personal care (which includes 
assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities 
of daily living) and household work related to the care of the aged or 
infirm individuals (such as meal preparation, bed making, washing of 
clothes, errands, assistance to appointments, laundry, medication 
reminders, bathing, assistance with incontinence and grooming, and 
other similar services). Such term may include the performance of 
general household work, provided that such work does not exceed 20 
percent of the total weekly hours worked.
    ``(B) `Companionship services' does not include services relating 
to the care and protection of the aged or infirm that require and are 
performed by trained medical personnel, such as a registered or 
practical nurse.
    ``(2) `Domestic service' as used in subsections (a)(15) and (b)(21) 
of section 13, means services of a household nature performed by an 
employee in or about a private home (permanent or temporary), including 
employees such as cooks, waiters, butlers, valets, maids, housekeepers, 
nannies, nurses, janitors, laundresses, caretakers, handymen, 
gardeners, certified nursing assistants, home care aides, home health 
aides, personal care aides, chauffeurs of automobiles for family use, 
and babysitters employed on other than a casual basis.
    ``(3) `Third-party employment' as used in subsections (a)(15) and 
(b)(21) of section 13, means the employment of any employee who is 
engaged in providing companionship services or live-in domestic 
services and who is employed by an employer other than the family or 
household using the services of the employee, whether or not such 
employee provides services to more than one family or household in the 
same workweek.''.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF THE COMPANIONSHIP SERVICES EXEMPTION.

    Paragraph (15) of section 13(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(15)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(including through third-party 
        employment)'' after ``companionship services''; and
            (2) by striking ``(as such terms are defined and delimited 
        by regulations of the Secretary)''.

SEC. 4. PRESERVATION OF THE LIVE-IN DOMESTIC SERVICES EXEMPTION.

    Paragraph (21) of section 13(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(b)(21)) is amended by inserting ``(including 
through third-party employment)'' after ``domestic service''.
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