Yesterday the New York Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited decision on 24-hour shift home health aides who work as “sleep-in” workers....more
3/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
Until last week, no New York court had ruled on the question whether a fiscal intermediary (FI) participating in New York’s consumer directed personal assistant program (CDPAP) was a joint employer of a consumer’s personal...more
Over the past several years, both New York State and New York City have enacted significant new employment and labor laws. This Update summarizes the key laws you should be following and the penalties for violations.
...more
12/17/2018
/ Cooperative Dialogue ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA) ,
Local Ordinance ,
Minimum Salary ,
Minimum Wage ,
Safe Leave ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Temporary Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft Prevention Act ,
Work Schedules
Class action attorneys recently filed a first-of-its-kind class action against Edison Home Health Care (“Edison”) and Preferred Home Care of New York (“Preferred”) alleging that the home care agencies used a “captive”...more
12/12/2018
/ Breach of Duty ,
Captive Insurance Company ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Insurance ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Personal Liability ,
Risk Management ,
Wage and Hour
Audits of compliance with the Wage Parity Act ("WPA") are on the rise. The NYS Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Unit, Medicaid Inspector General ("OMIG"), and Department of Labor ("DOL") are all auditing home care agencies....more
HOW you do things, it is said, is as important as WHAT you do. Operating a Fiscal Intermediary ("FI") under New York's Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program ("CDPAP") epitomizes this. Do you know the difference between...more
Last week, in two long-awaited decisions, the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department ruled that home care workers who worked 24-hour shifts, commonly referred to as “live-in” shifts, were required to be paid for...more
Tuesday, April 11, 2017, the First Department, Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court held that 24-hour case home care workers must be paid for all 24 hours if they are “nonresidential,” that is, they do not exclusively...more
In a case with far reaching implications, Cowell v. Utopia Home Care, Inc., 2:14-cv-00736-LDW-SIL, Magistrate Judge Steven Locke of the Eastern District of New York (covering Brooklyn, Queens and Long island) ruled that...more
8/23/2016
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Collective Actions ,
Conditional Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Claims by home care workers for unpaid overtime have risen steadily since the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2015, eliminated the federal overtime exemptions that allowed agency employers essentially to pay no overtime wage...more
8/4/2016
/ Companionship Exemptions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
As most home care agencies know, the United States Department of Labor ("USDOL") eliminated the companionship exemption for home care agency workers on October 13, 2015 in its Final Rule on the Application of the FLSA to...more
On November 2, 2015, the NYS Department of Health ("DOH") issued important notices affecting the wage and overtime obligations of New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester County home care agencies....more
Last week, a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice denied a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit against Chinese–American Planning Council Home Attendant Program, Inc., brought for unpaid wages, overtime, and failing to pay...more
9/22/2015
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
NY Supreme Court ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") blocking the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") from enforcing the new definition of Companionship Services in its Final Rule...more
Under the U.S. Department of Labor's Final Rule on Domestic Service, ("DOL Final Rule") effective January 1, 2015, home care agencies can no longer claim the companionship exemption. As a result, managed care companies may be...more
It has been reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) will issue a rule this month revising its regulations to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) companionship exemption for agency-employed home care workers. ...more