Ventura County Board of Supervisors To Become ‘Employer of Record’ for Home Care Aides

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a law to establish a new county agency to oversee more than 1,600 home care aides who provide services for elderly and disabled patients, the Ventura County Star reports. Under the law, scheduled to take effect in late August after a second vote next week, the supervisors will serve as the new county In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority. The move will allow the supervisors to act as the "employer of record" for the aides -- who prepare meals, purchase groceries and provide other services for elderly and disabled patients -- and to negotiate their contracts. In addition, the law will allow the supervisors to hire an executive director for the agency. The new agency will cost about $300,000 in the first six months (Ventura County Star, 7/18). According to the Los Angeles Times, the move may lead to "significant pay raises" for the county's home care aides, who earn about $7.11 per hour as independent contractors for the state (Los Angeles Times, 7/18). The aides are part of a program that the state established in 1973, which receives funds from federal, state and county governments and covers the cost of home care aides for low-income seniors and disabled residents. The Service Employees International Union hopes to unionize the Ventura County aides this summer. The union hopes to increase their wages to $9.50 per hour and secure county-sponsored health coverage for the aides (California Healthline, 4/5).