June 2014 | 2014 Summer Newsletter
In September 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor released new overtime pay regulations for In-Home Care Providers (IPs) to become effective January 1, 2015.
The proposal requires overtime pay for In-Home Care Providers (IPs), when they work more than 40 hours in a work week.
The new regulations will also require compensation for a care provider’s travel time between multiple clients, wait time associated with medical accompaniment, and any mandatory training time. These regulations could potentially increase IHSS costs by over $180 million in the new fiscal year.
Advocates, care providers, and union representatives worked hard to convince legislators and the Governor to pay the overtime and to restore the hour’s reduction that took place July 1, 2013.
Unfortunately, the 8% reduction in effect since last year will be replaced with a 7% cut, as of July 1, 2014. The new budget did not repeal a reduction of hours, and a 7% cut will remain. There are no further cuts to IHSS hours in the trailer bill and the budget. State staff and stakeholders will continue to work diligently to prepare for implementation of the new regulations. You can find more detailed information on the Disability Rights California website at: http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/pubs/PublicationsIHSS.html. Go to the IHSS Publications page; the list is in alphabetical
order – look for: New IHSS Overtime Rules: What Do the New Rules Mean for Consumers?
Here is a brief summery of overtime implementation:
- An IHSS provider shall not work more than 66 hours per workweek, regardless of the number of recipients worked for by the provider. (Exceptions may apply.)
- A workweek begins at 12:00 a.m. on Sunday and concludes at 11:59 p.m. the following Saturday.
- The recipient’s monthly assessed hours shall be divided by 4.33 to establish a recipient’s weekly authorized number of hours.
- The weekly authorization of services shall be used solely for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Within the limit of the monthly assessed hours, a recipient’s authorized weekly hours may be temporarily adjusted to accommodate unexpected, extraordinary circumstances.
- The State or County may terminate a provider who repeatedly violates the 66 hour per workweek restriction.
- A provider may be paid for up to seven hours per week of “travel time.” Travel time is time spent traveling directly from one location where authorized services are provided to one recipient, to another location where authorized services are being provided to another recipient.
- Hours spent by a provider while engaged in travel time shall not be deducted from the authorized hours of service of any recipient if the federal government helps fund the travel time.