Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act
Sponsored By: Representative Ocasio-Cortez
Introduced
Summary
Extend minimum wage and overtime protections to most babysitting and home caregiving work. This bill would narrow the "casual" domestic-service exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act by redefining when babysitting is treated as irregular work and by removing a previous exemption provision.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New pay rules for babysitters
This bill would narrow the old "casual" exemption for babysitting under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Babysitting would mean custodial care of children in the private home where they live. It would exclude care by trained medical staff and home care workers (for example, nurses, home health aides, and personal care aides). "Casual basis" would mean irregular or intermittent work as defined by the Secretary, not work that is someone’s vocation, and unrelated household chores would count only if they are 20% or less of total hours. If enacted, more in-home child care workers could be eligible for minimum wage and overtime protections, and families who hire them might face higher wage or overtime costs.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Ocasio-Cortez
NY • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]
MI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5]
MO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Wilson (FL)
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Bell, Wesley [D-MO-1]
MO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
DC • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10]
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4]
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Simon
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Schakowsky
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12]
PA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Carson
IN • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7]
CO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7]
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Budzinski
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32]
TX • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Bonamici
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]
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
Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3]
PA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Frankel, Lois [D-FL-22]
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]
MI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
DelBene
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3]
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Swalwell
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6]
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large]
VT • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5]
MN • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Mannion
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Barragan
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10]
WA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McGovern
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]
WI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Norcross
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
McClellan
VA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Adams
NC • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Grijalva
AZ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3]
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
Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10]
FL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Davis (IL)
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-39]
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5]
CT • D
Sponsored 3/19/2026
Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3]
CT • D
Sponsored 3/24/2026
Friedman
CA • D
Sponsored 3/24/2026
Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/26/2026
Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. [D-PA-2]
PA • D
Sponsored 3/27/2026
Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2]
HI • D
Sponsored 4/13/2026
Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9]
CA • D
Sponsored 4/13/2026
Rep. Olszewski, Johnny [D-MD-2]
MD • D
Sponsored 4/16/2026
Rep. Bynum, Janelle S. [D-OR-5]
OR • D
Sponsored 5/11/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov