Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act
Sponsored By: Representative Ocasio-Cortez
Introduced
Summary
Extends FLSA minimum wage and overtime protections to certain casual babysitting in private homes. This bill narrows exemption language and adds new definitions so that irregular, nonprofessional babysitting in a child's home is covered by wage and overtime rules rather than treated as a broad domestic-service exception.
Show full summary
- Families: Households that hire occasional babysitters may need to pay minimum wage and overtime when care is irregular or intermittent and not provided by someone whose vocation is babysitting.
- Casual caregivers: People who do part-time or irregular babysitting for private homes gain explicit wage and overtime protections, with up to 20 percent of their time allowed for incidental household tasks.
- Trained professionals: Registered nurses, vocational or practical nurses, home health aides, and personal care aides are carved out of the new "babysitting services" definition and are not newly covered by this change.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New pay rules for home babysitters
If enacted, this bill would narrow the FLSA home‑care exemption so it applies to casual babysitting in a child’s private home. It would define "babysitting services" as custodial care of children where they live and would exclude nurses and home health aides. It would define "casual basis" as irregular or intermittent work by someone whose vocation is not babysitting and allow incidental household chores only up to 20 percent of babysitting time. The bill would also repeal subsection (b)(21), but the excerpt does not say what that paragraph covered. If passed, more casual babysitters would be eligible for minimum wage and overtime, and households that hire them would likely face higher pay or more recordkeeping.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Ocasio-Cortez
NY • D
Cosponsors
Tlaib
MI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Watson Coleman
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Cleaver
MO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Wilson (FL)
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Bell
MO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Krishnamoorthi
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
DC • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McIver
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Hoyle (OR)
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Simon
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Schakowsky
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Torres (NY)
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Lee (PA)
PA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Carson
IN • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Moulton
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Pettersen
CO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Jayapal
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Budzinski
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Johnson (TX)
TX • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Bonamici
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Dingell
MI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Pingree
ME • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McBride
DE • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Kennedy (NY)
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Evans (PA)
PA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Frankel, Lois
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Goldman (NY)
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Thanedar
MI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
DelBene
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Dexter
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Swalwell
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Salinas
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Chu
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Balint
VT • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Latimer
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Omar
MN • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Lieu
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Mannion
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Lynch
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Barragan
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Strickland
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McGovern
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Tonko
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Pocan
WI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Norcross
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Nadler
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McClellan
VA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Pressley
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Adams
NC • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Grijalva
AZ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Ansari
AZ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Khanna
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Gomez
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McBath
GA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Frost
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Davis (IL)
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Garcia (IL)
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Takano
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Hayes
CT • D
Sponsored 3/19/2026
DeLauro
CT • D
Sponsored 3/24/2026
Friedman
CA • D
Sponsored 3/24/2026
Ramirez
IL • D
Sponsored 3/26/2026
Boyle (PA)
PA • D
Sponsored 3/27/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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