Home care workers file federal complaint against New York Departments of Labor, Health

Workers want justice for ‘wage theft’ and end to 24-hour shifts

Home health care aides, who have been pushing for years to end 24-hour shifts, are now appealing to the federal government for help. Last week, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of these workers with the U.S. Departments of Justice, Labor, and Health and Human Services that targets New York State Departments of Health and Labor. 

"The state Department of Labor and Department of Health have been engaging in discrimination against this class of workers by failing to enforce the laws as their written,” said Carmela Huang, an attorney with the NCLEJ who filed the complaint. “Workers have been working for all 24 hours and only getting paid for 13."