Supreme Court to Review Fair Pay Challenge [UPDATE]
The Supreme Court did not address a critical lower court decision on home care workers’ wages during its April 1 conference session.
The court was expected to announce whether it would take on the home care industry’s appeal of the decision, but it did not do so. The earliest date on which it could make the announcement is now April 18.
Last August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Columbia Circuit ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor acted within its authority when it extended minimum-wage and overtime protections to home care workers — a workforce that has long been denied these basic wage rights under federal labor law.
These extended protections have been officially in effect since October.
“Home care workers fought for 40 years to gain these critical labor protections that went into effect last October — we can’t go backwards now,” said Abby Marquand, PHI Director of Policy Research.
“We hope and expect that the Court will deny this appeal,” she added. “These labor protections are essential to building a skilled, stable workforce to meet the growing need for home care services.”
Trade associations representing the home care industry appealed the lower court’s decision to the Supreme Court last November, a month after their request for a stay of the decision was rejected by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.
In February, attorneys representing the federal government submitted a brief arguing that the Supreme Court should not take up the case.
— by Matthew Ozga
