Margarita M. Phillips 
The pandemic has made it clear how essential care is to people’s lives and to the economy. Yet the people who do this work are often paid low wages and deprived of basic protections.
The U.S. Department of Labor aims to address some of these concerns for home healthcare workers with the launch of a new initiative to increase awareness, education and enforcement of healthcare workers’ rights, like minimum wage and overtime.
In the United States, approximately 2.3 million personal and home health care workers assist the elderly and people with disabilities. Nearly 90% of the workforce is women, nearly two-thirds women of color and one-third immigrants. They earn an average of $ 13 an hour, according to Lul Tesfai, senior policy adviser at New America.
“Almost half of all home care workers live in a low-income household, and 1 in 6 workers live below the federal poverty line,†she said.
Workers can be hired through state-run registries, private agencies, or often just informal networks, said Emil Davtyan, a Los Angeles-based employment lawyer.
“It is just common for workers to be mistreated because they are often paid in cash,†he said.
Like most domestic workers, home helpers had historically been excluded from federal employment protections, such as overtime pay, under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, the administration of Barack Obama decided to include them in 2015.
In fact, applying the law can be difficult, said Caitlin Connolly of the National Employment Law Project.
“Often, workers go directly to people’s homes and don’t actually meet at a central workplace to chat with other colleagues,†she said.
It is also not always clear who is the responsible employer when workers are jointly hired by an individual but paid through an agency. That is why outreach efforts must target all groups, said Jessica Looman of the Ministry of Labor.
“We are running an awareness campaign focused on employer associations. We are doing outreach for advocates who represent these types of workers, â€she said,“ which includes a series of webinars and listening sessions, public service announcements and posters in your bodega. local.
The previous year, the division recovered over $ 38 million in back wages for workers in the health care industry.
