For the fourth time in three years, the New York Times published an editorial calling for overturning the 1975 federal labor regulation that exempts agency-employed home care workers from federal minimum wage and overtime protections that were enacted over 70 years ago.

“Lilly and Evelyn” was named for Lilly Ledbetter, who was paid less than her male counterparts for doing the same work at a tire factory, and Evelyn Coke, a home care worker who for decades did not receive overtime pay for the many long hours that she worked caring for her clients on Long Island.

Both of these cases went to the Supreme Court in 2007. In both cases, the women lost. Yet, in one case, a remedy was administered a year ago.

The court’s decision in the Ledbetter case was overturned just days after President Obama took office and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — the first bill he signed into law.

Obama Should Undo Companionship Exemption, Times Argues

The Times points out, again, that the Department of Labor (DOL) has the right to change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which considers home care workers to be “companions,” and thus exempt from federal wage and overtime protection.

The nation’s leading newspaper also reminds Congress that it has the authority to change the regulation that discriminates against home care workers, noting that the legislators have failed to act well over two years after the Supreme Court ruled on Coke’s case.

The January 29 editorial urges President Obama to “instruct his Labor Department to undo the companionship exemption” in memory of Coke, who died this past summer. If he fails to do so, the editors implore Congress to pass the Evelyn Coke Fair Pay for Caregivers Act.

PHI President Steven Dawson strongly agrees that Obama should instruct the DOL to provide home care aides with minimal workforce protections through the FLSA, but goes a step further. Dawson says that the president should also “direct available stimulus dollars to help the home care industry increase the pay and benefits for these essential caregivers.”

UPDATE (2/8/10):

The New York Times published PHI President Steven Dawson’s letter to the editor written in response to the “Lilly and Evelyn” editorial.

Related
New York Times Calls for Fair Pay for Caregivers
NY Times Editorial: Quality Jobs Needed in Home Care

– by Deane Beebe