Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. This fact sheet provides general information regarding the companionship services exemption under the FLSA. The FLSA is the federal law that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, state, and local governments. The Wage and Hour Division of the U.
Department of Labor administers and enforces the FLSA with respect to domestic service employment performed in or about private homes.
The term includes services performed by workers such as: companions, babysitters, cooks, waiters, maids, housekeepers, nannies, nurses, janitors, caretakers, handymen, gardeners, home health aides, personal care aides, and family chauffeurs.
This listing is illustrative and not exhaustive. The Department of Labor amended its regulations to revise the definition of companionship services that are exempt from FLSA protection.
The companionship services exemption is not applicable when the employee spends more than 20 percent of his or her workweek performing care services; in such workweeks, the employee is entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay. Household work that primarily benefits other members of the household, such as making dinner for the entire family or doing laundry for another member of the household, results in a loss of the exemption, and the employee is entitled to minimum wage and overtime for that workweek.
