Huffington Post Draws Attention to Home Care Workers’ Lack of Federal Labor Protections
The Huffington Post published two commentaries over the Labor Day holiday weekend highlighting the fact that home care workers still lack federal minimum wage and overtime protections.
Lateef McLeod, a poet, writer for the United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate, and member of Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Association, addresses concerns raised by some people with disabilities and advocates about whether services and supports would be affected should home care workers be guaranteed a fair wage.
McLeod, who has employed home attendants throughout most of his life, writes in “Let’s Not Make Home Care Workers Wait Any Longer for Their Rights,” that “…I’m convinced that granting workers FLSA’s basic labor protections is best for us all in the long run.”
In “What Will Excluded Workers Celebrate Next Labor Day?,” Tiffany Williams, advocacy director, Break The Chain Campaign, writes that there is an increasing demand for home care workers, and that extending these workers minimum wage and overtime protections is “one of the first steps we can take as a country to ensure that this workforce is ready for the change in demographics that has already begun.”
Campaign for Fair Pay
To learn more and sign the petition that urges the U.S. Department of Labor and White House to move quickly to extend home care workers federal minimum wage and overtime protections, visit the PHI Campaign for Fair Pay.
— by Deane Beebe
