WHD Suspends 2013 Home Care Enforcement Guidance

U.S. Department of Lab or Wage and Hour Div ision July 25, 2025 Field Assist ance Bulletin No. 2025 -4 MEMORAN DUM FOR: Regional A dministr a tor s District Director s FRO M: Donald M. Harrison, III Acting Administr a tor SUBJECT: Home Care Enf or cemen t Guidanc e This Field Assist ance Bulle tin (F AB) pr ov ides enf orc ement guidance t o W ag e and Hour Divisi on (WHD) fie ld staff reg arding enforcement in th e hom e care ind ustry. T he Dep artme nt ’ s cur rent, relev ant re gula tions we r e iss ued i n th e Final Rul e e nti tled, Applicati on of the Fair Labor St anda rds Act t o Do mestic S ervic e, 78 FR 60454, publis hed o n Oct. 1, 2 013 (201 3 final rule). The enforcement gu idan ce regardin g h o me ca re investigatio ns pro vided in this F AB is e ff ective as of the F AB ’ s publ ic ation dat e and remai ns in effect until the e ffec tiv e d ate of a ny fi nal rule the Dep artm ent issues reg ar ding the 20 13 final rule. Backg round In 1974, C ongr ess amend ed the F air Labor Sta ndar ds Act (FLSA or Act) to e xt end cov er age t o all “ domestic service” employ ees, including those e mploy ed by priva t e households or small companies pre viously no t c over ed by the Act. A t the same time, Congr ess cr eat ed FLSA e x emptions f or cert ain ca t egories of domestic serv ice employ ees, inclu ding: 1. A n ex emp tion from the Act ’ s minimum wag e and ov ertime p ay requ ireme nts for employees wh o pro vide “ companionship services f o r individuals who … ar e unable to car e f or themselves. ” 29 U.S. C. 213(a) (15); an d 2. An ex emption from the overtime pay re quir eme nt (but not th e mini mum w ag e requir ement) f or “ any employ ee who is employ ed in domes tic service in a household and who re sides in suc h house hol d. ” 29 U.S. C. 213(b)(21). In 1975, pursuant to its au thor ity u nder the 19 74 FLSA a mend ment s, th e Dep artm ent pr omulg a t ed r eg ula tions regar din g the appli cation of the FLSA t o domes tic service employmen t, includi ng pr o visi ons ad dr ess ing the com pani onsh ip servi ces a nd liv e - i n domes tic service employee e xemptions. These regula tions rem ained subst an tially unchang ed f or almost 40 year s until 2013 when the Dep artment issued a final rule significan tly narr ow ing the scope of the FLSA ’ s ex emptions f or companions a nd live - in do mestic service wo rk ers. Specific ally, the 2013

2 final rule precl uded third party employ er s (lik e ho me car e agencies) fr om c laiming either e x emption, amend ing 29 CFR 55 2.109(a) and (c), and narr ow ed t he de fini tion of “ companionship services” that e x empt companio n work ers could perf orm, amending 29 CFR 552.6. The Depar tment has reviewed the 20 13 final rule and pu blishe d a No tice o f Pr opos ed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Ju ly 2, 2025, pr oposing t o r esc ind th ose regu lati ons. N o w, to more efficient ly direct WHD resour ces to align with age ncy priorities, WHD issues this FA B to its fie ld staff to pro vide enf orcement guidance unti l th e eff ective date of any fina l rul e the D epartm ent issues regar ding the 2013 final rule. Enf or ceme nt Gui dance While this F AB is in eff ect, WHD will not apply the 2013 final rule w hen de t ermi ning whet her a home ca r e wor k er is su bjec t to the FLS A ’ s wag e r equir ements. T his enf orcement policy is int ende d t o pr o vide cl ari ty and c onsi st e ncy f or WH D st a ff while the De partment re - evalu ates the 2013 final r ule thr ou gh the notice - and - comment rulemaking pr ocess. E ff ectiv e immediat ely, WHD wil l su spen d enforcement of a ll provisio ns introduce d in th e 201 3 final ru le. F or pur poses of ong oing a nd f utur e WHD enf orcement duri ng th e time in whi ch this F AB is in eff ect: • WH D i nves tigato rs m u st immediately d iscontinue enforcement o f the 201 3 final rule, includi ng o pen c ases tha t pr ed at e thi s F AB. • WHD inv estig a tor s must not in ves tig at e or tak e enf or cement action ag ain st thir d party employer s, i ncluding home car e ag encies, that claim the ex emption for work ers eng age d in companionship services under sectio n 13(a)(15) or live - in domestic service s under section 13(b)(21) o f the FLS A, as applicable. • For pur poses of WHD in v estig ations, e x emp t “ c ompa nions hip servi ces” incl ude the pro vision of f ellows hip, pr ot ection, a nd car e. • WH D i nves tigato rs a re not to consider any limits on the time home car e w ork er s spe nd pro viding “ care” when de t ermining whether a home c are work er is pr oviding com panio nship s ervices. Suc h ca re ma y inc lude dutie s rela ted to activities of daily living, such as dre ssi ng, gr oomi ng, f ee ding, ba thi ng, toil eting, and trans f erring; and instrument al activities of daily living, such as m ea l p re p a rati o n, l ight ho usework, managing finances, assis t ance with tak ing medica tions, and arr anging medic al car e. • This F AB is neither int ended to nor should i t be int erpre t ed to aff ect any in ves tig ations or other ac tions in to possi ble v iola tions of ot her pr ovisions of the FLS A not implica t ed by the 2013 final rule, including secti on 215(a) (3). • Home c are servic es pr ovi ded by tr ai ned per sonnel, such as re gis te r ed nur ses or licensed practic al nur ses, ar e not a ff ect ed by this F AB and, as such, ar e not to be c o nside red exe m p t, ev en whe n pr ov iding “ companionship services. ”

3 This e nfor cement p osition is i n e ffe c t unti l the eff ective dat e of an y final r ule res ulting fr om t he July 2 Notice of Pr o pose d Rulema ki ng. Please r ef er any questions reg ar ding th is F AB to th e Nationa l Office f or guida nce. Nothing in this F AB limits WHD’ s authority to enf o r ce the FLSA, nor doe s it affect the Department ’ s enf or cemen t discre tion under other applicable st at utes or r e gulations. WHD reserves its right to ex er cise its enf or cement authority in specific m a tter s e xplicitly deemed appro priat e by the A dministr a tor, or designee, as an appr opriat e alloca tion of resources. The guidance in this F AB super sedes an y c ontr ary or con flicting guidance t o field st aff or the public addr ess ing t his t opi c. This F AB is int ended sole ly as internal guidance f or De partment per sonnel and as a notice to the public of WHD’ s enf or cemen t position. It does not crea te an y leg ally enf orceable rights or obliga tions and does not alt er an y st at utory or r egula tory r equirem ents.