Description

Live-In Caregivers in Massachusetts – Common Mistakes Agencies Make and Best Practices to Avoid Significant Wage-and-Hour Liability

Providing live-in care requires very specific compliance steps and documentation with our caregivers. Unfortunately, the compliance steps and documentation are not always intuitive, and there are many common mistakes agencies make under federal and Massachusetts state law when providing this kind of care. Because live-in cases involve a very high number of hours worked, failure to have the required documentation in place, to properly account for sleep and meal time, to track all hours worked, or to pay the correct regular and overtime rate can create some of the most expensive wage-and-hour liability for home care providers. That liability multiplies exponentially on a class and collective basis.

During this session, Josh and Chris will identify the specific compliance steps and documentation necessary to properly engage live-in caregivers under federal and state law. They will also identify best practice steps you can take to avoid or significantly mitigate the risk of liability for your agency.

Objectives:

• Identify specific compliance steps and documentation necessary to engage live-in caregivers in  Massachusetts
• Identify common mistakes agency employers make when engaging live-in caregivers
• Identify steps to take to avoid or mitigate risk of live-in caregiver litigation and liability.

Speakers:

Joshua C. Vaughn, Esq., is an employment defense attorney, Co-Chair of Littler’s Home Care Industry Group, and leader of Littler’s Home Care Toolkit. He represents employers in collective, class, and hybrid wage and hour actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state laws. Josh also counseling agencies on employment issues unique to the industry, including live-in care, proper regular and overtime rates and payment, day rates, rate manipulation, compensability rules related to travel time, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed Companionship and Live-In exemption regulations.

Josh has represented home care agencies in litigation, Department of Labor (DOL) investigations, U.S. Office of Inspector General Investigations, state Attorney General investigations, and compliance audits. He regularly trains employers, writes on employment law, and has taught Technology and Employment Law as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Christopher B. Kaczmarek, Esq., is a Massachusetts employment defense attorney. Chris regularly represents and defends employers of all sizes in state and federal court litigation as well as in state and federal administrative agencies. Chris has litigated cases involving claims of alleged wage and hour violations (including failure to properly pay live-in caregivers), misappropriation of trade secrets, violations of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, unlawful discrimination, and harassment.