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ARTICLE · 11 APRIL 2014

Companionship Exemption: Know The Rules

Fisher Phillips LLP
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The Labor Department issued its final rule restating the requirements for and limitations upon the "companionship exemption" in FLSA Section 13(a)(15).

United StatesEmployment and HR
Ted Boehm
Ted Boehm
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Months after its April 2013 target date, the U.S. Labor Department issued its final rule restating the requirements for and limitations upon the "companionship exemption" in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA's) Section 13(a)(15). The changes are significant.

The Current Rule

Since 1974, individuals who are employed in "domestic service employment" to provide "companionship services" to the elderly or people with infirmities have been exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA.

"Domestic service employment" refers to services of a household nature the worker performs in or about the private home of the person by whom he or she is employed.

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