New York Court Nullifies Recent Emergency Amendment Codifying Longstanding “13-Hour Rule” for Home Care Industry

The home health care industry suffered a major setback on September 26, 2018, when the New York Supreme Court, New York County, ruled that the New York State Department of Labor’s (NYDOL) emergency rulemaking amendment to the “13-hour rule” was “null, void and invalid.” The amendment had codified the NYDOL’s longstanding interpretation that home care workers only had to be paid 13 hours of a 24-hour live-in shift, as long as they received the required sleep and meal periods.