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Video: Home Attendants Fight Back

Letter to Supporters: NYS Court of Appeals Decides it is Legal to Pay Home Care Workers Half of Hours Worked

April 1, 2019

Dear Friends,

We are deeply disappointed with the recent failure of the New York State Court of Appeals to right a wrong for thousands of workers and those who receive care. On Tuesday March 26, the NYS Court of Appeals voted 5 to 2 in favor of overturning the decisions of the lower courts, and therefore making legal the inhuman practice of assigning home care workers 24 hour shifts- for only 13 hours of pay.

With this decision, the NYS Court of Appeals undermined its own authority, and our system of checks and balances by deferring to the Department of Labor (DOL). As Judge Garcia wrote as part of the dissenting opinion, the DOL’s interpretation of its law “not only enables this mistreatment of home health care aides, it directly affects their livelihood: with eleven hours of pay deducted from their earnings, home health care aides are paid an hourly rate less than the statewide minimum wage.” Home attendant Lai Yee Chan, a leader in this fight said, “I am very mad with the decision. So are other home care workers who do 24 hours. The Court should not listen to the DOL that continues to lie and say we are able to sleep at night with patients who need 24 hour care.”

This failure on the part of the NYS Court of Appeals gives further urgency for the legislature to make inhumane 24-hour workday illegal and replace them with maximum 12-hour split shifts. This would:

• Improve health and safety – people should receive proper care and workers should be able to go home after a 12-hour shift and have proper rest. Countless studies show that long working hours are connected with higher workplace injuries and mistakes.
• Create more jobs with better conditions for New Yorkers and stop treating women and immigrant workers as second-class citizens.
• Ensure that workers no longer receive 13-hour pay for a 24-hour workday.

We need to mobilize and build power from the ground up. We need to inform the public about the treatment home care workers and those they care for have been receiving. We need to urge home attendants and those they care for to assert their rights by filing complaints or lawsuits at various agencies and in the courts. We need your help to win. Let’s come together to end the 24-hour workday and lead the way for more workers to fight against long hours and overwork. Visit aintiawoman.org to endorse the campaign, donate, and learn more. For more information please call 212-358-0295.

Workers brave storm, urge NYS Court of Appeals to uphold right to 24-hour’s pay for 24-hour workday

Despite a winter storm warning, more than 50 home attendants and other workers from the Ain’t I a Woman?! Campaign traveled to Albany this month (2/12/19) to urge the NYS Court of Appeals to uphold the decisions of the lower courts: home attendants working a 24-hour workday have the right to 24-hour’s wages. After a brief press conference on the steps of the Court with snow falling fast, workers attended the hearing of two cases, Andreyeyeva v. New York Health Care and Moreno v. Future Care Health Services, Inc..

Inside, the Court heard from agency lawyers about the conditions of home attendants even though more than 40 home attendants sat listening. Agency and NYS Dept. of Labor lawyers argued that home attendants, who have their own homes but work 24 hour shifts should be treated like “live-in” workers who actually reside in the home of the individual being cared for. Judges challenged this point, sarcastically saying, “I suppose a worker on an 8 hour should would also be “living-in” their patient’s home.” A judge also made a comparison to firefighters, who are paid for their full workday in the fire hall even if they have time to sleep or eat. The judge said that firefighters are “there when you need them and they’re required to be there. Aren’t [home care workers] the same?”

The decision is set to be released in 4-6 weeks. Contact us today to get involved and hear updates on this case!

Press Coverage:
Click here for Gothamist article
Click here for Labor Press article
Click here for Left Voice article