New York – Supreme Court Does Not Recognize Elderly Care Workrs Minimum Wage.

New York – The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an elderly Queens woman’s bid to win overtime pay and minimum wage protection for home care workers.

The court unanimously upheld a 1975 Labor Department regulation exempting the nation’s 1 million home care workers from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The home care industry said paying time-and-a-half for hours in excess of 40 a week would cost billions.

The Clinton administration had drafted a regulation to cover the workers, but it was shelved after President Bush took office in 2001.

Home care aides are key to the independent life seniors want, but lack of adequate pay is fueling turnover rates of 40% to 50% every year, the Service Employees International Union said. [nysun]