On August 21, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Department of Labor's Home Care Rule.1 Based on that decision, the effective date of the Home Care Rule is October 13, 2015.
The plaintiffs asked the court to delay the effective date while they seek review of the court of appeals’ decision before the U.S. Supreme Court. The DOL asked the court of appeals to allow the Rule to go into effect before the current October 13 deadline. The court of appeals denied both motions on September 18, so the October 13 effective date still stands unless the Supreme Court grants an application for a further stay.
Recommendations for Employers
To the extent employers are currently relying upon the companionship and/or live-in domestic service worker exemptions, they may want to prepare to begin paying overtime or rescheduling their employees so that they do not work more than 40 hours in a week, in the event no further stay of the new Rule is granted beyond October 13.
Littler is currently preparing a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision, which will be filed soon.
