Women’s Group Supports Fair Pay for Home Care Workers

A new report by the Older Women’s League (OWL) expresses support for a proposed revision to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that would extend basic wage protections to home care workers.

The report, Women and the Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities Facing Women as They Age, examines the effect of the current job market on women aged 40 and older.

In the report’s “Policy & Legislative Recommendations” section, OWL states that FLSA should be amended “to extend basic labor protections, including minimum wage and overtime premium pay, to home care workers.”

Elsewhere, the report uses PHI data (pdf) to explain that ensuring quality jobs for direct-care workers is an important women’s rights issue; nearly 90 percent of direct-care workers are female, and their average age is 42.

Additionally, OWL’s report cites Partners in Care, the nation’s largest home health agency, as a model workplace for direct-care workers for its training and certification programs.

— by Matthew Ozga