Home care | Be a Seed for Change


	Help Home Care Workers Get Basic Workplace Protections



	For decades, home care workers have been underpaid and undervalued. Tell the Department of Labor to extend minimum wage and overtime protections today!

	WWW.NWLC.ORG

We have labor laws for a reason — because fair workplace practices shouldn’t be options subject to the whims of an employer.

Most workers in America are entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But one group of workers — home care workers — is still denied these basic labor rights.

Who are these workers? They are everywhere, in nearly all of our communities. They are overwhelmingly women (about 9 out of 10) and are disproportionately women of color. These workers take care of elderly and disabled Americans — perhaps your family members — who need extra help at home. Most are employed by the fast-growing home care industry. But this difficult, extremely important work has been deprived of FLSA protections for decades.

Today, we have an opportunity to extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. But we need your help!

The Department of Labor has proposed a regulation that would extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers, lifting many of them and their families out of poverty, and helping to close the wage gap for women.

For one more week, the Department is accepting comments on this regulation. The home care industry and other opponents of minimum wage and overtime protections are mobilizing in opposition. It’s vital for people who care about fair pay and economic security for women to take action and make their voices heard!

These workers have been denied these rights far too long. The clock is ticking — please, take two minutes to help the caregivers who work so hard to help our families in times of need. WWW.NWLC.ORG

The deadline for comments is next Monday, March 12. Please act now, before it’s too late!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Please help us continue to advocate for policies that protect and improve economic security for women and their families by making a generous donation today.

WA Supreme Court orders DSHS to reverse cuts to medicaid kids

The cuts targeted a program that helped vulnerable children. Benefits to as many as 3,000 kids could be affected.

by CHRIS INGALLS / KING 5 News

SEATTLE — The Washington State Supreme Court has ordered a reversal of some of the deep budget cuts made by the Department of Social and Health Services. The cuts targeted a program that helped vulnerable children. Benefits to as many as 3,000 kids could be affected.

One of them is Samantha Kadlec of Kenmore. Medicaid paid for an in-home personal care expert to help Samantha with things like bathing, grooming and reading. Her mother was devastated when DSHS cut Samantha’s services in half.

“It was a pretty rough time,” Andrea Kadlec said. “You needed more support and they were proposing you get a lot less. I felt pretty sick.”

This week, the court ruled that DSHS made broad assumptions based on children’s age and living conditions instead of examining the need in each individual case.

The court also affirmed lower a court finding that DSHS made similar unfair cuts to about 1,000 seniors who also received in-home care.

Samantha’s mother realizes the state is in dire financial trouble. She says without in-home assistance, taxpayers could face an even bigger bill for full time care.

“So the crux of this case is so that kids like Sam can live in the community and don’t have to be institutionalized,” Andrea said.

How will DSHS restore the funding when its budget has been cut so deeply? DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus said she won’t know the next step until her agency has had a chance to review the court ruling.