Home health care is a huge industry in the USA with over 3 million workers in 2022. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that jobs will grow by 22% over the next 8 years. New Jersey has thousands of in-home caregiver employees. Many seniors are trying to “age-in-place” and they hire caregivers to help them with their functional tasks of daily living. On January 12, 2024, New Jersey’s Governor Murphy signed into law S-723/A-822, dubbed the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights Act. The law will take effect in July, 2024. Here are some highlights.
A “hiring entity” is an “employer” and includes individuals as well as companies.
If work will exceed 5 hours per month, a written contract is required which specifies duties, base wage, overtime wage, weekly schedule, manner of payment, breaks, leave or sick time, paid holidays, sleeping period, personal time, value of housing provided, and transportation requirements. The agreement has to be in English and such other language which is preferred by the worker. The State will provide sample contracts.
An uninterrupted 30-minute meal break is required every 5 hours and the worker must be paid for that time if they are required to remain on duty due to the nature of the job.
A “live-in” domestic worker may not be required to work more than 6 consecutive days for the same employer without a 24-hour rest.
The employer must provide 2 weeks advance notice of termination, and 4 weeks notice for live-in employees, except in cases of significant misconduct. However in cases of privately-hired domestic workers, the Notice requirement does not apply if “there is no longer a practicable need for the position,” such as death of the person being cared for or relocation to a health care facility.
The law has additional provisions that are intended to protect the privacy and dignity of the employees, and to protect their ability to assert the rights that are granted by the law. For example, no employer shall threaten to report a worker’s suspected citizenship or immigration status if the worker asserts their rights under the law. An adverse action within 90 days would be presumed to be retaliatory.
There will be a new Domestic Workers Enforcement Program, so we can expect regulations to be issued pertaining to complaints, investigations, enforcement and penalties.
For people who apply for MLTSS Medicaid, having a signed employment contract with their caregiver might help them avoid “transfer penalties” for payments made during the 5-year lookback.
We have been assisting our clients to establish contracts for home health employment for many years. For advice and assistance about your situation, make an appointment to meet with one of our attorneys at …….. 732-382-6070