WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday revived Obama administration regulations that guarantee overtime and minimum wage protection to nearly 2 million home health care workers.
The ruling was a victory for worker advocacy groups and labor unions that have long sought higher wages for domestic workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing or taking medicine.
It also was a win for the White House, which proposed the rules four years ago.
A federal judge had scrapped the Labor Department rules earlier this year after finding that the agency had overstepped its authority. Since 1974, federal law has exempted home care workers hired through third-party staffing agencies from wage and overtime requirements.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Labor Department has the power to interpret the law to change that exemption.
Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Sri Srinivasan cited a “dramatic transformation” of the home care industry over the past four decades as a reason for the change. While most caregivers used to be directly employed by individual households, the majority of workers now work for staffing companies that serve hundreds or thousands of customers, Srinivasan said.
He also noted a massive shift to providing care for the elderly in their own homes rather than in nursing homes, which requires workers to offer more advanced medical care and assistance to clients than the mere “companionship” services envisioned in 1974.
Two judges on the panel, Srinivasan and Nina Pillard, were appointed by President Barack Obama. Judge Thomas Griffith was appointed by President George W. Bush.
In a statement, the Labor Department called the wage rules “the right thing to do” and said they would help workers “whose demanding work merits these fundamental wage guarantees.”
