Personal Attendant Overtime Bill Criticized
Critics of a bill (AB 2536) that would require personal attendants to be paid overtime after working an eight-hour day or a 40-hour week could benefit underground contractors and make care less available, the Sacramento Bee reports. The bill exempts overtime pay for In-Home Support Services workers, minors who occasionally babysit and personal attendants paid more than $10.13 per hour.
Barbara Biglieri of the California Association for Health Services at Home said, "This is a huge underground economy issue, and we expect more people to go underground if this (law) were to change."
Biglieri also said that the expected cost increases would cause many agencies to schedule split shifts of eight hours apiece, which would affect continuity of care. Additionally, the bill could pressure families who cannot afford the overtime costs to move elderly or disabled family members into nursing homes, according to Biglieri.
Assembly member Cindy Montañez (D-Mission Hills), who proposed the bill, said she is considering whether to amend the bill to exempt from the overtime requirement families receiving Medi-Cal benefits or other public assistance (Sanders, Sacramento Bee, 6/25).