Trump’s Labor Department reviews rule that gave health aides more pay
The US Department of Labor is reassessing a decade-old rule that extended pay protections to home health aides, a move that has the potential to impact the wages of millions of US workers.
In a footnote in a court filing last month, the agency said it “intends to reconsider” regulations issued in 2013 under President Barack Obama, which expanded the scope of minimum wage and overtime rules to cover so-called “direct care” workers such as home health aides and certified nursing assistants.
The filing relates to a case Biden’s Department of Labor brought in 2021, when the agency sued Americare Healthcare Services LLC under the Obama-era rule, accusing the homecare company of underpaying employees. In January, a judge ordered Americare to pay $15 million in back pay and damages.
The dispute has since moved to the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Americare has denied wrongdoing and is seeking a reversal, saying the regulations exceed the Labor Department’s authority because federal wage law makes exceptions for workers providing “companionship” and for domestic staff who are caring for people they live with.
Trump’s Labor Department, which inherited the case, has so far defended the 2013 rule. In the May filing, the agency said it “reasonably exercised” its authority by enacting the 2013 regulations, which it noted were upheld by another circuit court in 2015. But in the footnote, the agency said it may still “wish to pursue rulemaking in the future to take a different policy approach.”
One of Americare’s attorneys, Bruce Fox, said in an email that the note was “very encouraging,” and argued that the regulations have “increased overhead and forced companies to reduce base wages to account for overtime payments.”
Trump’s Labor Department declined to comment on the filing.
When the rule was initially enacted under Obama in 2013, the Department said it was “an important step toward guaranteeing that these professionals receive the wage protections they deserve,” and that it would help reduce turnover in a much-needed sector of the economy.
In an interview last week, US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said that any review of existing regulation will “always go through the prism, ‘is it going to help the American worker?’” The agency recently said it is committed to “delivering on President Trump’s deregulatory agenda by quickly removing unnecessary, burdensome regulations” that hurt business and growth.
A person familiar with the matter said the agency intends to take a fresh look at all regulations currently on the books, consistent with Trump’s directives. In executive orders this year, the president has told agencies to repeal at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents for every new one they promulgate; and to work with the Department of Government Efficiency and the White House to review all regulations under their jurisdiction to see if they adhere to the law and the administration’s positions.
Trump’s nominee to be the Labor Department’s solicitor, Jonathan Berry, is currently managing partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, one of the firms representing Americare against the agency.