[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Dodd, 
        Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Cantwell, 
        and Mr. Casey):
  S. 2061. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
exempt certain home health workers from the provisions of such Act; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I have come to the floor, today, to 
introduce the Fair Home Health Care Act of 2007 to recognize the 
extraordinary value of the services that home health care workers 
perform. This legislation is in response to a Supreme Court decision in 
June that ruled that home care workers are not entitled to the 
protections provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
  At the center of that case was a 73-year-old retiree named Evelyn 
Coke, who spent some two decades of her life cooking, bathing, feeding, 
and caring for the everyday medical needs of people who cannot take 
care of themselves. Today, Evelyn Coke suffers from kidney failure. But 
despite 20 years of working more than 40 hours a week, she can't afford 
a home health care worker to take care of her. She sued her employer 
for not paying time-and-a-half pay for all those hours that she worked 
overtime but was denied premium pay by way of compensation. 
Unfortunately, Evelyn Coke lost her case before the Court because of an 
outdated exemption to the Federal minimum wage and overtime laws.
  In 1974, Congress expanded the Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, 
include protections for most domestic workers, such as chauffeurs and 
housekeepers. However, a narrow exemption was created for employees 
providing ``companionship services'' to seniors and people with 
disabilities. At that time, home care, like babysitting, was largely 
provided by neighbors and friends.
  In the three decades since the exemption was created, the numbers of 
home care workers and their responsibilities have expanded dramatically 
as the population has aged and more and more people are choosing long-
term health care services in their homes rather than in institutions. 
There are more than 1 million home care workers in the U.S. They 
provide physically and emotionally demanding and often life-sustaining 
care for the elderly and disabled still living in their own homes.
  This bill brings together two issues that are very close to my 
heart--on the one hand, independent living and quality of life for 
seniors and people with disabilities, and, on the other hand, the basic 
rights of American workers to premium pay for overtime work. Service 
providers and the people they serve agree on this: no one is served 
well when home care workers are not paid a living wage. Home care 
workers deserve fair pay. Seniors and people with disabilities deserve 
continuous relationships with home care aides that they can trust to 
deliver the care that they need.
  Last week, several constituents who provide these kinds of services 
came to my office. One man, Pete Faust, has worked in home care 
settings for 30 years. Pete makes $12 an hour and admits he has trouble 
making ends meet; the overtime pay he receives makes it possible to pay 
the bills. He knows that he could go work somewhere else and make twice 
as much, but he worries that it is hard on his clients not to see the 
same friendly familiar face on a regular basis.
  Casey Cole is another of my constituents, and he is in a similar 
position. He works 12 days in a row, and then gets two days off. Often, 
however, there isn't anyone else to cover the shifts when he is off, so 
he will work 26 days in a row. Even his days off aren't really days 
off, because he's answering calls or checking in to make sure that all 
the people under his care are getting their needs met.
  Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a Pete Faust or a Casey Cole 
to help them out. There is a shortage of qualified home care workers, 
and of there is high turnover in the field. Some 86 percent of direct 
care workers turn over every year. Almost 90 percent of homecare 
workers are women, and they are predominantly minority women, making an 
average of just $9 an hour.
  The reason for the shortage of people to do this work is certainly 
not a shortage of compassion. The problem is that people need to be 
able to make a living wage when they have their own families to take 
care of. It is high time to grant these hard-working people the minimum 
wage and overtime protection. That is why I am introducing this 
legislation, today.
  The Fair Home Health Care Act will include home care workers under 
the same rules that currently cover babysitters. That is to say, they 
will be entitled to Fair Labor Standards Act protections if they are 
not employed on a ``casual basis.'' Casual basis is defined as 
employment on an irregular or intermittent basis, when the employee's 
primary vocation is not the provision of homecare, the employee is not 
employed by an agency other than the family or household using his or 
her services, and the employee does not work more than 20 hours per 
week.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this legislation. The 
bill will improve pay for hardworking caregivers, and it will increase 
access to care for our Nation's seniors and people with disabilities.
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