Wage & Hour Rules for Home Care Agencies in New York

Minimum wage (2026). $17.00/hour in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester; $16.00/hour in the rest of the state, effective January 1, 2026 (CPI indexing begins 2027). Source ↗

Home care aide minimum wage (2026). Home care aides have a HIGHER dedicated minimum: $19.65/hour in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester and $18.65/hour elsewhere, effective January 1, 2026 (set at $2.65 above the regional minimum wage). Source ↗

13-hour rule (24-hour shifts). For 24-hour live-in shifts, NYSDOL policy — upheld by the Court of Appeals in Andryeyeva (2019) — lets agencies pay 13 hours if the aide receives 8 hours of sleep (5 uninterrupted) and 3 hours of meal breaks; interrupted sleep or meals must be paid, so documentation is critical. Source ↗

Wage Parity Law. Medicaid-funded aides in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester must receive additional wage-parity compensation on top of the base wage — an added benefit portion of $4.09/hour in NYC and $3.22/hour in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, with annual employer certifications (LS-300) required. Source ↗

Overtime & live-in aides. FLSA-covered agency aides get 1.5x over 40. Under the state Minimum Wage Order, residential (live-in) employees are owed overtime after 44 hours, and workers exempt from the FLSA must still get overtime at 1.5x the state minimum wage. A 'spread of hours' extra hour of minimum wage is due when the workday spans more than 10 hours. Source ↗

Weekly pay for manual workers. Labor Law §191 requires manual workers — which NYSDOL and courts have held includes home care aides — to be paid weekly. A 2025 budget amendment limited damages for first-time frequency violations to lost interest, but weekly payroll remains the compliance baseline. Source ↗

Paid sick leave. NYS Paid Sick Leave: 40 hours/year paid (5–99 employees; also under 5 with net income over $1M) or 56 hours (100+); NYC's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act adds local enforcement. Source ↗

Pay transparency. Employers with 4+ employees must include pay ranges in job ads (Labor Law §194-b); NYC's local law imposes the same for city postings. Source ↗

FLSA coverage. Caregivers employed by home care agencies are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act: federal minimum wage ($7.25) and overtime apply, because agencies are 'third-party employers' of domestic service workers. Source ↗

2013 Home Care Rule. Under the 2013 Home Care Rule (29 CFR 552.109), third-party employers such as home care agencies may NOT claim the FLSA companionship-services or live-in domestic worker exemptions — only the individual, family, or household using the services can claim them. Source ↗

Rescission proposal status (July 2026). On July 2, 2025 DOL proposed rescinding the 2013 Home Care Rule (comments closed Sept. 2, 2025), but as of July 2026 no final rule has issued — the 2013 rule remains legally in effect. Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-4 (July 25, 2025) directed WHD staff to pause enforcement of the rule against third-party agencies, but the FAB does not affect private lawsuits by caregivers, which can still recover back overtime plus liquidated damages. Source ↗

Sixth Circuit upholds rule (2026). In April 2026 the Sixth Circuit (DOL v. Americare Healthcare Services) upheld the 2013 Home Care Rule as a valid exercise of authority Congress expressly delegated to DOL, even post-Loper Bright. Practical takeaway for agencies: keep paying minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime to caregivers unless and until a final rescission rule takes effect. Source ↗

Overtime & travel time. Agency caregivers must receive 1.5x their regular rate for hours over 40 per workweek, and travel time between clients during the workday is compensable hours worked (commuting to the first client and home from the last is not). Source ↗

Sleep time on 24-hour shifts. For shifts of 24 hours or more, an employer and live-in or shift caregiver may agree to exclude a bona fide sleep period of up to 8 hours if adequate sleeping facilities are provided and the worker usually gets at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep; interruptions for work must be paid. On shifts under 24 hours, all time on duty — including permitted sleep — is compensable. Source ↗