Editorial: Fair pay needed for caregivers
July 11th, 2009From the New York Times editorial board:
Home care aides, who typically assist elderly and disabled clients, are among the most underpaid and overworked people in the work force, say the editors. Most make less than $10 an hour and are routinely denied overtime pay. As a result, those who rely on caregivers are plagued by low quality care and high turnover, while the public gets the bill for food stamps and other forms of public assistance.
The editors call on the Labor Department to issue a rule that would require home care employers to pay such workers the federal minimum wage or time and a half for overtime. The process of issuing a new rule includes a comment period, generally three months. An excerpt:
Home care aides should not have to wait any longer than that for the fair pay they have been denied for so long.
Our RSS Feed
July 13th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I agree. I was a caregiver and was making less than eight hundred dollars a month. I work eight hours days and I had a daugher that was also had a disability. I had to quit a job I like in order to eat and keep a roof over me and my daughter head.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:13 am
i agree. this is a No1 issue for me as a person with a disability. aides are my freedom.