Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act

Bill Number

H.R. 2304

Origin Chamber

House

Congress

119th Congress, Session 1

Policy Area

Labor and Employment

Status

Introduced

Latest Action

2025-03-24: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Last Updated

2025-07-21T19:44:15Z

AI-Generated Summary

Purpose

The legislation, titled the "Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act," aims to maintain specific exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. These exemptions relieve certain home care workers from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, focusing on services for seniors and individuals with disabilities. The goal is to ensure continued access to affordable in-home care by clarifying and preserving these exemptions, particularly when workers are employed through third-party agencies rather than directly by families.

Key Provisions

• Definitions (Section 2): Adds new terms to the FLSA's definition section (29 U.S.C. 203):
• Companionship services: Non-medical support providing fellowship, care, and protection for elderly or infirm individuals unable to care for themselves. This includes help with daily activities (e.g., bathing, grooming, meal preparation, errands) and limited household tasks (up to 20% of weekly hours). It excludes services by trained medical professionals like nurses.
• Domestic service: Household tasks performed in private homes, such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, or caregiving by roles like aides, nannies, or housekeepers.
• Third-party employment: Hiring of workers providing these services by an employer outside the family or household (e.g., a home care agency), even if serving multiple clients in a week.
• Companionship Services Exemption (Section 3): Updates FLSA Section 13(a)(15) to explicitly cover companionship services provided through third-party employment and removes reliance on Department of Labor (DOL) regulations for defining the term.
• Live-in Domestic Services Exemption (Section 4): Updates FLSA Section 13(b)(21) to include live-in domestic services (where workers reside in the home) provided through third-party employment, exempting them from overtime pay requirements.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Codifies specific definitions for companionship and domestic services directly into the FLSA, reducing dependence on DOL interpretive regulations (e.g., a 2015 DOL rule that limited exemptions for agency-employed workers).
• Explicitly extends exemptions to third-party employers, reversing prior restrictions that applied exemptions mainly to workers hired directly by families.
• Removes the phrase requiring terms to be "defined and delimited by regulations of the Secretary" (DOL head), shifting authority from administrative rules to statutory language.

Potential Impacts

• On Citizens: Seniors and people with disabilities may face lower costs for in-home care, as exemptions could prevent wage increases that might raise service fees. Families relying on these services could maintain access without financial strain.
• On Government Agencies: The DOL's role in regulating these exemptions is curtailed, potentially simplifying enforcement but limiting flexibility to update rules based on evolving needs. No direct impact on international relations.
• Broader Effects: Could stabilize the home care workforce by clarifying pay rules, but might reduce worker earnings in exempt roles, affecting low-wage caregivers' financial security.

Main Stakeholders Affected

• Home Care Workers: Including personal care aides, home health aides, and live-in caregivers, who may remain exempt from minimum wage (for companionship) or overtime (for live-in roles), potentially limiting their pay protections.
• Third-Party Employers: Home care agencies and staffing firms benefit from preserved exemptions, enabling them to offer services without full FLSA compliance costs.
• Families and Recipients: Seniors, disabled individuals, and their households gain from potentially more affordable care options.
• Government: DOL and workforce oversight bodies, as the bill shifts interpretive power from regulations to Congress-enacted law.

Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications

• Legal: By codifying definitions and limiting regulatory deference, the bill could preempt future DOL rule changes, making exemptions more stable but vulnerable to court challenges if seen as overly narrow or conflicting with broader FLSA labor protections.
• Constitutional: No direct challenges noted, but it balances federal labor standards with states' roles in regulating home care, potentially invoking Commerce Clause considerations for interstate agency operations.
• Political: Highlights tensions between protecting vulnerable workers' wages and ensuring affordable care access; supporters may view it as pro-family and pro-senior, while critics could argue it weakens labor rights for a largely female and minority workforce in home care.

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.

Sponsor

Rep. Miller, Mary E. [R-IL-15]

Recent Actions

• 2025-03-24: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
• 2025-03-24: Introduced in House
• 2025-03-24: Introduced in House

Bill Versions

• Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act — issued 2025-03-24 — PDF (4 pages)