Supreme Court Upholds Lower Pay for Domestic Service Workers
The United States Supreme Court upheld a Department of Labor rule exempting many domestic service workers from minimum wage and overtime pay laws. See the case Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke, Case No. 06-593 (Decided June 11, 2007).
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) provides for minimum wage and overtime pay for many workers. The Act, however, exempts domestic service employees who provide companionship services for individuals who cannot care for themselves. Such laws are implemented by U.S. Government Agencies. In this case, the Department of Labor (DOL) put the law into action.
The Department made several rules clarifying who is a domestic service employee as described in the FLSA law. One of the DOL regulations in question defined "domestic service employment" as "services of a household nature performed by an employee in or about a private home ... of the person by whom he or she is employed ..." A second regulation declared that exempt companion workers include those "who are employed by an employer or agency other than the family or household using their services ..."
Evelyn Coke, a domestic worker who provides companion services to elderly and infirm men and women sued her formed employer, Long Island Care at Home, Ltd., alleging the company failed to pay her minimum wages and overtime pay she was entitled to under the FLSA. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the matter.
Generally, the Supreme Court allows an agency to fill in gaps left in a statute passed by Congress. Here, the Court determined that the DOL's regulations filled in gaps left by terms such as "domestic service employment" and "companionship services".
The Court determined that Congress intended the FLSA to cover domestic service workers both paid by the person for whom she is providing services and those paid by a third party agency. The Court agreed with Long Island Care at Home that the Department's second regulation, exempts workers employed by an agency from minimum wage and overtime pay regulations.
