Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act
Sponsored By: Senator Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced
Summary
Extends minimum wage and overtime protections to many nonprofessional in-home babysitters and informal caregivers.
Show full summary
- Families who hire informal babysitters or home caregivers may need to pay minimum wage and overtime when those workers do regular, noncasual work.
- Individuals who provide regular in-home babysitting would gain FLSA coverage unless their work meets the bill's new "casual" standard. The bill lets agencies limit unrelated household tasks to 20% of babysitting hours when deciding casual status.
- Trained personnel and formal home-care staff, such as registered or vocational nurses and home health aides, are explicitly excluded from the babysitting definition and are not recategorized by this change.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Fewer domestic workers exempt from overtime
This bill would narrow the old exemption for "casual domestic service" so it only covers casual babysitting. If enacted, more domestic workers could become eligible for federal minimum wage and overtime. Households that hire domestic help could pay more or face new compliance duties. The bill would also remove a separate older exemption that limited coverage for some domestic workers.
New rules for in-home babysitters
This bill would define "babysitting services" as custodial care of infants or children in the private home where they live. It would exclude care by trained nurses and by home health and personal care aides. It would define "casual basis" for babysitting as irregular or intermittent work, as the Labor Secretary would set. It would allow unrelated household work only if it is 20 percent or less of total babysitting hours. If enacted, these definitions would make some in-home babysitters eligible for minimum wage and overtime protections.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Murray, Patty [D-WA]
WA • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
WI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
IL • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ]
AZ • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
John Hickenlooper
CO • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]
VA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
VT • I
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
MD • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Charles Schumer
NY • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD]
MD • D
Sponsored 3/25/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov