U.S. Court of Appeals Reinstates Labor Department’s Wage Rule for Home Care Workers

On August 21, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) reinstated Department of Labor (DOL) regulations that require home care agencies and other third-party employers of domestic service workers to provide minimum wage and overtime pay protections to employees who provide “companionship services.” The case, Home Care Association of America et al. v. Weil, arises from the DOL’s appeal of two lower court rulings that had invalidated the DOL’s regulations, as previously reported in Robinson+Cole’s Health Law Pulse here and here. Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the DC Circuit disagreed with the lower court rulings, holding that the DOL properly exercised its authority in issuing the regulations.