House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

Good morning, and welcome to our witnesses.

Certainly one of the most important labor laws in our nation is the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since 1938, and subject to various amendments, the FLSA has provided that a covered, non-exempt employee is entitled to be paid a federal minimum wage, and be paid overtime at time-and-a-half when he or she works more than forty hours in a week.  Since its enactment, the FLSA has been the linchpin of our nation’s wage-and-hour laws and has provided protections to literally hundreds of millions of workers.

The FLSA represents the collective wisdom of Congress - the legislators who originally drafted the Act, and those who have subsequently amended it.  Often in these instances, Congress has struck a balance between competing policies.  The issue before us today I believe is one of those instances. 

In the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974, Congress exempted from minimum wage and overtime requirements certain workers who are “employed in domestic service employment to provide companionship services for individuals who (because of age or infirmity) are unable to care for themselves.”  The 1974 Amendments struck a balance between the protection of companionship service workers, and the needs of elderly and infirm patients to obtain this care and these services.  That balance recognizes that increasing the cost of companion care services by way of minimum wage and overtime requirements is likely to result in a hardship to many who need these services, but for whom they would become too costly. 

The Department of Labor is charged with administering this law, and issuing regulations under it.  There has been significant debate and litigation relating to the Department’s regulations regarding companion care workers, and specifically the question of whether the law exempts only those workers who are paid directly by the individual to whom these services are provided, or whether the exemption covers all companion care workers, irrespective of the technicalities of how they are paid.  Through public rulemaking, the Department of Labor has taken the latter view – that the exemption extends to cover all companion care workers.

Earlier this summer, the United States Supreme Court – in a unanimous, nine to zero decision known as Long Island Care at Home – upheld the authority of the Department of Labor to interpret these provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  They found that the Department’s interpretation was a lawful one.  The legislation before us today appears intended to overturn that decision.

I use the word “appears” advisedly, and I am glad of the fact we are having a legislative hearing of this issue and the bill in particular.  I am interested in hearing our witnesses today speak about the text and provisions of H.R. 3582.  I would like their views as to whether this bill simply voids the regulation at issue in Long Island Care, or whether it in fact goes beyond that.  Some have suggested that H.R. 3582 will result in the companion care exemption becoming so limited as to be meaningless.  I would welcome our witnesses’ views on that, as well.

It is important as we consider legislation in this area that we are mindful of the consequences of our actions.  I suspect we’ll hear more than once today that this is a matter of “fundamental fairness” for these workers – and I respect those witnesses who hold those views.  But as I mentioned earlier, the exemption of certain companion care workers from minimum wage and overtime represents a deliberate choice by Congress.  Limiting or eliminating that exemption will absolutely serve to increase costs – not just to employers and agencies, but also to federal and state governments, who pay for these services by way of programs like Medicare and Medicaid.  That in turn is likely to have consequences for patient care.  These are the issues I’d like us to explore today. 

In closing, let me say again that I appreciate the opportunity to examine this legislation in our Subcommittee this morning.  I welcome our witnesses, and yield back my time.

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