California Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order 15 (effective April 1, 1986) defines “personal assistant” to include nannies and any person employed directly by a private homeowner or indirectly through an outside employer to supervise, feed or dress a child or person who, due to advanced age, physical disability or mental deficiency, needs supervision.

Provides a waiver of the overtime pay, meal period, rest period, and record keeping requirements for individuals who qualify as a personal assistant, except the minimum wage.

not another job Exceeded 20% of Working time:

But to retain the exemption, an “other work” amount, that is, no more than 20 percent of the employee’s work time. Household chores are considered “other jobs” that count against the 20 percent limit.

In general, domestic work exceeds 20 percent of the total weekly hours worked, exemptions are lost.

so, in Cardenas v. mission industries, 226 Cal.Application. 3,952,277 cal. rptr. 247 (1991), the court upheld the decision that a line worker did not qualify as a personal assistant because the employee did a substantial amount of work not related to child care, namely: grocery shopping, laundry, errands, cooking dinner for the whole family.

But personal assistants subject to Wage Order 5 (Public Janitorial Industry) and not Wage Order 15 (Household occupations) can work extra hours in an emergency, but must be paid time and a half for the excess hours.

internal employees Pay:

Section 3(A) AND (B) of Wage Order 15 entitles live-in employees to time and one-half for the first nine (9) hours worked on a sixth or seventh day, double time for hours that exceed nine on said days.

But resident household employees have a full overtime exemption under Section 13(b)(21) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and a partial overtime exemption under Wage Ordinance 15.

And domestic workers who receive room and board can be paid once a month on a day designated in advance by the employer, under Section 205 of the California Labor Code.

who are not personal assistants:

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has stated that licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and workers who regularly administer medication or take temperature pulses or respiratory rates do not normally qualify as personal assistants.

But isolated medical assistance has been interpreted as being included in the work of “supervision” by a personal assistant.

Additionally, the exemption does not apply if the service is performed by trained personnel, such as a registered or practical nurse, but a certified nursing assistant (CNA) is not considered trained personnel, according to the Ninth Circuit in McCune v. Oregon Division of Senior Services, 894 F.2d 1107, 1111 (9th Cir. 1990).

Finally, the exemption does not apply to services that are not performed in a private home, nor to the care of minor children who are not mentally or physically ill.

Bedtime Compensation:

An internal employee is not considered to be working when they are free from all duties and are able to leave the premises for their personal purposes, including periods when they eat, sleep or entertain. These are not house worked.

Therefore, employers and employees are encouraged to agree to a reasonable accommodation under Wage Order 5 (Public Janitorial Industry), but not under Wage Order 15.

But the California Wage and Hour Division considers all sleep time as hours worked if an employee is required to be on duty for less than 24 consecutive hours.

If an employee is required to be on duty for 24 or more consecutive hours, the employee and employers may agree to exclude from the hours worked a sleep period of not more than eight hours, as well as to exclude the period for eating from the hours worked. worked.