S4081Referred to Committee

Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-03-12
Introduced
20
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Patty Murray
Patty Murray
Democrat · WA · Senator
Votes with party: 69.3% (296 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/M001111

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (20)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

2026-03-12

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

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Plain-English Summary

This bill would establish new wage and labor protections for home care workers, who provide services like assistance with daily living and medical care to elderly and disabled people in their homes. The legislation aims to ensure these workers receive fair pay and benefits comparable to other care workers, addressing concerns that home care jobs often pay significantly less than similar positions in hospitals or care facilities. The bill would affect millions of home care workers and the families or government programs that employ them.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Labor and Employment

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4081 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4081 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to ensure that certain caregiving employees are no longer exempted from overtime and minimum wage protections. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 12, 2026 Mrs. Murray (for herself, Mr. Kim, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Gallego, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Markey, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to ensure that certain caregiving employees are no longer exempted from overtime and minimum wage protections. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act''. SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME FOR CERTAIN CAREGIVERS. (a) Exemption Amendments.--Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended-- (1) in subsection (a)(15), by striking ``casual basis in domestic service employment'' and all that follows through ``of the Secretary)'' and inserting the following: ``casual basis to provide babysitting services''; and (2) by repealing subsection (b)(21). (b) Definitions.--Section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(z) `Babysitting services'-- ``(1) means the custodial care and protection of infants or children in or about a private home in which the infants or children reside; and ``(2) does not include services relating to the care and protection of infants or children which are performed by trained personnel, such as registered, vocational, or practical nurses, and home care workers, including home health aides and personal care aides. ``(aa) `Casual basis', with respect to the provision of babysitting services-- ``(1) means employment which is irregular or intermittent (as defined and delimited by the Secretary), and which is not performed by an individual whose vocation is babysitting; and ``(2) may include the performance of household work not related to the provision of babysitting services, so long as the time performing such work does not exceed 20 percent of the total hours worked while providing babysitting services.''. <all>
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