I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5970 
To prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing a proposed rule relating 
to the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to domestic 
service employees. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2012 
Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Mr. TERRY, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. 
GOWDY, and Mrs. SCHMIDT) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing a proposed 
rule relating to the application of the Fair Labor Stand-
ards Act of 1938 to domestic service employees. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting In-Home 
Care from Government Intrusion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The United States has a growing number of 
the elderly and individuals with disabilities who de-
pend on companion care to live in their own homes. 
(2) In 1974, Congress amended the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 to ensure the elderly and in-
dividuals with disabilities have access to affordable 
companion care by exempting such care from over-
time and minimum wage requirements. 
(3) Regulations proposed by the Department of 
Labor will adversely impact access to companion 
care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities 
by increasing the cost of care. 
(4) With the increased cost of companion care 
brought on by the proposed regulations, many of the 
elderly and individuals with disabilities will not be 
able to afford in-home care and instead may be 
forced to enter institutional care settings. 
(5) The proposed regulations will shift com-
panion care for the elderly and individuals with dis-
abilities to a labor market where caregivers receive 
insufficient background screening, training, and su-
pervision. 
(6) The proposed regulations will reduce and 
limit the overall incomes of caregivers and restrict 
their working hours as employers are forced to con-
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trol additional costs that cannot be absorbed by the 
vulnerable clients and taxpayer-funded programs fi-
nancing companion care. 
(7) The proposed regulations will raise costs for 
the small businesses that provide companion care by 
increasing caregiver turnover rates and hiring, train-
ing, supervision, and compensation costs. 
(8) In-home care is the mode of care preferred 
by the elderly and individuals with disabilities in 
terms of cost, quality of life, and service satisfaction, 
all of which are jeopardized by the proposed regula-
tions. 
SEC. 3. RULE RELATING TO DOMESTIC SERVICE EMPLOY-
EES. 
The Secretary of Labor shall not finalize or enforce 
the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Application of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act to Domestic Service’’ and published in the 
Federal Register on December 27, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 
81190) or any substantially similar rule. 
Æ 
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