Employees providing domestic services in a private home who reside on the employer’s premises are live-in domestic service employees exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA. Employees reside on the employer’s premises if they work and sleep there on a “permanent basis” or for “extended periods of time.” Employees who work and sleep on the employer’s premises seven days per week and therefore have no home of their own other than the one provided by the employer under the employment agreement are considered to reside on the employer’s premises on a “permanent basis.” Employees who work 120 hours or more each week and work and sleep on the employer’s premises five days a week reside on the employer’s premises for “extended periods of time.” Employees who work and sleep on the employer’s premises for five consecutive days or nights each week would also qualify as residing on the premises for “extended periods of time” even if they do not work 120 or more hours each week. Employees who work for only a short period of time for the household are not considered live-in domestic service workers, because residing on the premises implies more than temporary activity. Employees who work 24-hour shifts but are not residing on the employer’s premises “permanently” or for “extended periods of time” are not considered live-in domestic service workers, and the employers are not entitled to the overtime pay exemption. Employees who work 24-hour shifts but are not live-ins must be paid at least minimum wage and overtime for all hours worked unless they are otherwise exempt. See Fact Sheet #79B: Live-In Domestic Service Workers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for more information.
October 2018
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