FORM IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2014
CONTACT: Beth Miller/Brooke Armour (916) 551-1383
Encourages ongoing discussions with department to ensure compliance with law
(SACRAMENTO)–The California Department of Labor last week announced more than $3 million in citations for assisted living providers, including those who operate small home facilities with six or fewer residents. 6Beds, Inc., the advocacy group representing small home residential care facilities, has been working with the Department of Labor to discuss new enforcement of laws and regulations that are making well-intentioned care providers the target of these labor violations.
6Beds, Inc. Director Joy DeLa Torre issued the following statement in response to this latest action by the department:
We strongly condemn any facility that intentionally attempts to subvert the law or under-pay its employees. But in many cases, the application of certain laws and regulations to small home residential care facilities is creating confusion for our community. For example, many small home facilities have live-in caregivers who do not have regular access to transportation and live
at the homes on a long-term basis.
6Beds, Inc. has been proactively meeting with the California Department of Labor to explain the unique operational characteristics of our small home facilities and why the Department’s recent actions disproportionately affect our small homes. Specifically, we are working to clarify how to accurately classify the hours of live-in employees to ensure we are providing just compensation while taking into consideration the unique characteristics of both the small home facilities and its live-in caregivers.
We respect our employees and always want to make sure we are providing them fair compensation for the excellent service they give our residents. We are working with the Department of Labor to create clear understanding of labor requirements, acceptable labor practices for live-in caregivers and proper documentation. We want to create consistency in order to educate our members so we can avoid these types of raids, which are affecting our ability to provide safe and affordable care for seniors and intellectually disabled adults.