Bill would codify rights to minimum wage and overtime pay for home care workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, cosponsored the Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act, bicameral legislation led by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), to codify minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers provide overtime protections to domestic workers who currently do not have it. The legislation comes as the Trump Administration looks to rip away home care workers’ right to minimum wage and overtime pay.
In the United States, there are more than 3 million home care workers who support almost 10 million people with disabilities and older adults with everyday tasks like eating, dressing, and bathing. In Vermont, nearly 25 out of 1,000 jobs are home care workers, dedicated to supporting the state’s aging population.
“From Vermont to Washington, home care workers are an essential part of every state’s health care system. These are folks who have dedicated their lives to ensuring that seniors and folks with disabilities are cared for with dignity and compassion–they deserve nothing less than a fair wage for their vital work,” said Senator Welch. “Congress must urgently pass this legislation to shield home care and domestic workers from Trump’s attempts to rip away their right to a basic wage and overtime protections.”
“In Washington state and across our country, home care workers ensure that seniors and people with disabilities can live in their homes with dignity and respect. They play a vital role in our communities and too many of them are struggling to make ends meet on the low wages they’re receiving,” said Senator Murray. “Instead of supporting these workers, Donald Trump wants to overturn a rule that ensures that home care workers receive the same basic minimum wage and overtime protections as everyone else. That’s why today we are Introducing the Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act. This bill makes sure that home care workers and domestic workers at least have the basic wage protections they deserve and can continue to earn a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. No loopholes, exceptions, or sabotage from a billionaire President without a clue.”
“No one should get less than a fair wage for their work in our country,” said Senator Kim. “As the need for caregivers only grows, we cannot allow the Trump administration to abandon home care and domestic workers to live in poverty. Care workers go above and beyond to look after our loved ones. Congress needs to step up to codify the fair pay they deserve and support their essential service at the heart of addressing our country’s care crisis.”
“Congress has a moral obligation to protect those who care for our most vulnerable communities and home care workers are the backbone of our long-term care system,” said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. “I am proud to introduce the Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act with Senator Patty Murray to finally codify the minimum wage and overtime protections our home care workers deserve and prevent future attacks on their livelihoods.”
In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) created a right to minimum wage and overtime pay for most workers in the U.S. However, the FLSA continued to exclude some categories of workers, such as home care workers. In 1974, Congress amended the FLSA to cover home care workers; unfortunately, that amendment included a loophole that was interpreted to allow for the continued exclusion of most home care workers. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized regulations, interpreting these amendments and expanding labor protections for most home care workers.
In July 2025, the Trump Administration took action to roll back the 2013 rule—seeking to strip home care workers’ rights to minimum wage and overtime pay—and revert to a previous interpretation of the 1974 amendments. If the Trump Administration’s proposal is finalized, home care workers who reside in states with no additional wage protections—more than one-quarter of all home care workers in the country—will lose their right to minimum wage and overtime protections.
The Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act is endorsed by nearly 90 labor and civil rights and advocacy organizations, including: ACLU; The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); AFSCME; Alliance for Retired Americans; MomsRising; National Disability Institute; National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA); National Immigration Law Center; National Nurses United; National Women’s Law Center; Oxfam America; and United Domestic Workers of America (UDW).
“We are at a crossroads in this country. Our need for care is growing every single day, yet we continue to treat the home care workforce as disposable. We cannot allow the fundamental right to a minimum wage and overtime to be at the whim and mercy of this administration. Rolling back these protections would hurt an already struggling workforce and the millions of families who rely on their care. The Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act is our chance to finally enshrine these protections in federal law and help ensure that the workers who enable the dignity of our older and disabled loved ones are able to work with dignity too,” said Ai-Jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Senators Welch, Murray, and Kim are joined on this legislation by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Maizie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). In addition to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, the bill is cosponsored by 64 members of the House.
Learn more about the Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act.
Read and download the full text of the bill.
Senator Welch has supported bipartisan and bicameral efforts to protect and bolster workers’ rights, including as a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.
###