DOL Proposes Companionship Exemption

The Situation Report | July 7, 2025

The Federal Department of Labor has proposed a rule to reinstate the so-called companionship exemption, which excludes some home care workers from parts of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

For many years prior to 2013, employees that provided companionship services were exempted from minimum wage and overtime requirements. However, in 2013, the federal DOL revised its rules relating to companionship services, effectively narrowing the definition of these services. Now, because the 2013 rules may be discouraging the use of essential companionship services, DOL is reexamining this issue. If the DOL’s recently proposed rule is finalized, workers who provide companionship services will be exempted once again from federal minimum wage and overtime requirements just as they were prior to the 2013 DOL revision. Live-in domestic services employees also will be exempted from overtime rules.

DOL stated that it expects that its proposal to revert to the pre-2013 regulations would expand access to home care and reduce costs by providing home care staffing agencies with greater scheduling flexibility and reduced labor costs for home care workers who become newly exempt.

HCANYS will continue to analyze this rule proposal and inform you of the latest developments.