The right to a proper wage is the law

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Home care & cleaning NY · NJ · FL

Twenty-four hours on duty, thirteen hours paid. Only if you really slept.

Home health aides, housekeepers and building porters often work 24-hour shifts for an agency that pays a fixed amount per shift. New York has a precise rule for that, and agencies do not always meet its conditions.

A home health aide climbing the steps of a brownstone with a tote bag, seen from behind.

HOW THE PAY GOES WRONG HERE

Aides, housekeepers, nannies, porters. Here is what we see most.

Each of these may be a claim under federal law or the law of the state where you worked. The oldest weeks fall out of reach as time passes, so the clock matters.

01

The 13-hour rule applied to a shift with no sleep

New York lets an agency pay 13 hours of a 24-hour shift only if you actually got eight hours of sleep, five of them without interruption, and three hours of meal breaks. If the patient needed you at night, the hours are owed.

02

Overtime after 40 hours, or 44 if you live in

A worker who actually lives in the employer’s home earns overtime after 44 hours a week. Everyone else, including an aide who works 24-hour shifts but lives elsewhere, earns it after 40.

03

Travel between clients unpaid

Time spent traveling from one client to the next during the day is work time.

04

Supplies and uniforms deducted

Deductions for supplies, uniforms or “training” are unlawful in New York outside a short list that needs your written consent.

05

No pay notice, no pay statement

Every worker in New York must get a written pay notice at hire and a statement with each paycheck. Missing paperwork carries fixed statutory damages.

WHAT TO SAVE

You do not need paperwork to start. This helps.

01

Your weekly schedule and whether you live in

02

Nights you were woken, with dates if you have them

03

Texts from the agency or the family about hours

04

Pay stubs or payment-app history

Home care & cleaning

You know your hours. We know what the law says you are owed for them.

Tell us where you worked, your schedule and how you were paid. A lawyer reads every message.

Tell us what happened (718) 484-7510