Obama administration delays home-care worker minimum-wage, overtime protections

In a Tuesday announcement, the administration said it won't enforce this rule, which involves an estimated 2 million home-care workers, for the first six months after its Jan. 1, 2015, effective date.

The New York Times: Minimum Wage And Overtime Protections Are Delayed For Home-Care Workers
With numerous states pushing for a delay, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would put off enforcement of its plan to extend minimum-wage and overtime protections to the nation's nearly two million home-care workers (Greenhouse, 10/7).

The Wall Street Journal: Labor Department Upholds Home Health-Care Pay Rule, Delays Enforcement
Business groups and Republicans lost their bid to get the Labor Department to suspend a rule that will extend minimum-wage and overtime pay to home health-care workers, but the agency said it won't enforce the measure for the first six months after the Jan. 1 effective date. Some worker-advocacy groups and Democrats applauded the department's decision to move forward with the rule, calling it a balanced approach. Congressional Republicans and others who wanted a suspension said the department's solution is unworkable (Trottman, 10/7).

Kansas Public Radio: Labor Dept. Delays Overtime Pay For Medicaid Home Care Providers
The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday granted a six-month delay in enforcement of a new rule applying federal minimum wage and overtime provisions to home care workers employed by so-called "self-directed" Medicaid consumers. The rule, which mandates minimum wage and overtime pay for home care staff who work more than 40 hours a week, still will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015, as originally announced. However, for the first six months of next year, the Labor Department will use its "prosecutorial discretion" and will not be enforcing the rule. That means the department will not conduct audits, investigations or respond to complaints. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services was among several entities asking the Labor Department for relief from the new rule (Thompson, 10/7).

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Home Health Care Workers Rally In St. Louis For Higher Minimum Wage
Home health care workers and their patients rallied this morning in downtown St. Louis as their union negotiates with state officials for a higher minimum wage. About 100 people gathered in front of the Wainwright State Office Building to ask Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon to back a proposed $11 hourly minimum wage for workers paid through the state's Medicaid program. "Governor Nixon, raise our pay!" chants echoed throughout the morning as patients and workers took turns addressing the crowd. A spokesman for Nixon did not immediately return a voice message seeking comment (Shapiro, 10/7).