I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5902 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act with regard to certain exemptions 
under that Act for direct care workers and to improve the systems 
for the collection and reporting of data relating to the direct care work-
force, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2010 
Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BRALEY 
of Iowa, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, 
Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
HARE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE
of California, Mr. LEWIS
of Georgia, Mr. 
LOEBSACK, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. 
THOMPSON of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WU) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act with regard to 
certain exemptions under that Act for direct care workers 
and to improve the systems for the collection and report-
ing of data relating to the direct care workforce, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Direct Care Workforce 
Empowerment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) direct care workers are the linchpin of the 
Nation’s paid long-term care system, providing es-
sential care and daily living services to more than 13 
million elderly and disabled Americans; 
(2) the ability to meet the Nation’s long-term 
care challenges depends largely on a strong, stable 
direct care workforce; 
(3) over 2⁄3 of older adults will need some form 
of long-term care at some point in their lives; 
(4) the United States is experiencing a severe 
shortage of qualified direct care workers to provide 
personal and long-term care and support services; 
(5) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
direct care workforce occupations consist of nursing 
aides, home health aides, and personal and home 
care aides; 
(6) direct care work is demanding, working con-
ditions are often difficult, and turnover is high be-
cause of low pay, lack of access to health insurance 
and other benefits, strenuous conditions, limited op-
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portunities for advancement, inadequate training, 
and lack of respect; 
(7) direct care workers are often underpaid, 
with nearly 1 in 3 living near or below the poverty 
level, and more than 1 in 4 lacking health insurance; 
(8) the average annual income for direct care 
workers is $17,000, and 40 percent of direct care 
workers live in households that receive one or more 
public benefits such as food stamps or Medicaid; and 
(9) States have management information sys-
tems that are rarely set up to gather and report 
basic information about the direct care workforce 
that could be used assess changes and challenges to 
the workforce. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION TO EXEMPTION UNDER THE FAIR 
LABOR STANDARDS ACT. 
(a) HOME CARE WORKERS.—Section 13(a)(15) of 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
213(a)(15)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(15) any employee employed on a casual basis 
in domestic service employment to provide baby-
sitting services or any employee employed on a cas-
ual basis in domestic service employment to provide 
companionship services for individuals who (because 
of age, infirmity, or disability) are unable to care for 
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themselves (as such terms are defined and delimited 
by regulations of the Secretary);’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—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) The term ‘casual basis’ means employment 
which is irregular or intermittent, and which is not per-
formed by an individual whose vocation is the provision 
of babysitting or companionship services or an individual 
employed by an employer or agency other than the family 
or household using their services. Employment is not on 
a casual basis, whether performed for one or more family 
or household employers, if such employment for all such 
employers exceeds 20 hours per week in the aggregate.’’. 
SEC. 4. DIRECT CARE WORKFORCE DATA COLLECTION AND 
MONITORING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall establish a direct care workforce 
monitoring program to— 
(1) facilitate the reporting of data by States 
about the direct care workforce and the sharing of 
such data among States, including tracking of best 
practices and cross-State comparisons; 
(2) enable the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services to better collect data across all long-term 
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