§ 3614-F — Home care minimum wage increase

§ 3614-f. Home care minimum wage increase. 1. Definitions. For the\npurpose of this section:\n (a) "Home care aide" shall have the same meaning as defined in section\nthirty-six hundred fourteen-c of this article.\n (b) "Home care worker wage adjustment" shall mean a supplemental\namount of wages equal to the rate of change in the average of the three\nmost recent consecutive twelve month periods between the first of August\nand the thirty-first of July, each over their preceding twelve month\nperiods published by the United States department of labor\nnon-seasonally adjusted consumer price index for northeast region urban\nwage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) or any successor index as\ncalculated by the United States department of labor.\n (c) "Downstate" shall mean all counties within New York city and the\ncounties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.\n (d) "Remainder of state" shall mean all counties in the state of New\nYork other than the counties in downstate.\n 2. (a) Beginning October first, two thousand twenty-two, in addition\nto the otherwise applicable minimum wage under section six hundred\nfifty-two of the labor law, or any otherwise applicable wage rule or\norder under article nineteen of the labor law, the minimum wage for a\nhome care aide shall be increased by an amount of two dollars and zero\ncents.\n (b) for the period January first, two thousand twenty-four through\nDecember thirty-first, two thousand twenty-four, the minimum wage for a\nhome care aide shall be as follows:\n (i) for each hour worked in downstate, eighteen dollars and fifty-five\ncents; and\n (ii) for each hour worked in remainder of state, seventeen dollars and\nfifty-five cents;\n (c) for the period January first, two thousand twenty-five through\nDecember thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five, the minimum wage for a\nhome care aide shall be as follows:\n (i) for each hour worked in downstate, nineteen dollars and ten cents;\nand\n (ii) for each hour worked in remainder of state, eighteen dollars and\nten cents;\n (d) for the period January first, two thousand twenty-six through\nDecember thirty-first, two thousand twenty-six, the minimum wage for a\nhome care aide shall be as follows:\n (i) for each hour worked in downstate, nineteen dollars and sixty-five\ncents; and\n (ii) for each hour worked in remainder of state, eighteen dollars and\nsixty-five cents;\n (e) beginning January first, two thousand twenty-seven, and each\nJanuary first thereafter, the minimum wage for a home care aide shall be\nthe sum of the minimum wage for a home care aide from the prior calendar\nyear and the home care worker wage adjustment.\n (f) (i) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in no\nevent shall the minimum wage for a home care aide in downstate exceed\nthe sum of the wage set by the commissioner of labor pursuant to\nparagraph (a) of subdivision one-b of section six hundred fifty-two of\nthe labor law plus three dollars and zero cents.\n (ii) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in no event\nshall the minimum wage for a home care aide in remainder of state exceed\nthe sum of the wage set by the commissioner of labor pursuant to\nparagraph (b) of subdivision one-b of section six hundred fifty-two of\nthe labor law plus three dollars and zero cents.\n 3. Where any home care aide is paid less than required by subdivision\ntwo of this section, the home care aide, or the commissioner of labor\nacting on behalf of the home care aide, may bring a civil action under\narticle six or nineteen of the labor law; provided that this shall not\npreclude the commissioner of labor from taking direct administrative\nenforcement action under article six of the labor law.\n 4. (a) The department is authorized to address, to any provider of\nmedical assistance program items and services that is an employer of\nhome care aides, or officers thereof, any inquiry in relation to its\ncontracts, employment or other relationship, and wages, compensation and\nother benefits paid to home care aides, including individually\nidentifiable data and payroll reports. Every entity or person so\naddressed shall reply in writing to such inquiry promptly and\ntruthfully, and such reply shall be, if required by the department,\nsigned by such individual, or by such officer or officers of a\ncorporation, as the department shall designate, and affirmed by them as\ntrue under penalty of perjury. In the event any entity or person does\nnot provide a good faith response to an inquiry from the department\npursuant to this section within a time period specified by the\ndepartment of not less than fifteen business days, such entity or person\nshall be subject to civil penalties under section twelve of this\nchapter. Each day after the deadline established by the department for\nreply until such time that the provider submits a good faith response\nshall be considered a separate and subsequent violation. In accordance\nwith the process outlined in this paragraph, employers shall provide any\ndocuments or materials in the employer's possession, custody, or control\nthat are requested by the department as needed to support or verify the\nemployer's reply.\n (b) Any reports or other information furnished to the department under\nthis subdivision shall be deemed a confidential communication and shall\nnot be subject to inspection or disclosure in any manner, including\narticle six of the public officers law or department regulations in\nconformance therewith, except as provided in this section, pursuant to a\njudicial subpoena issued in a pending action or proceeding, or upon\nformal written request by the department of labor, the office of\nattorney general, or a duly authorized public agency.\n (c) The department shall no less than annually provide a report to the\ngovernor, temporary president of the senate, and speaker of the assembly\nsummarizing the information obtained by the department under this\nsubdivision. Such report shall not contain individually identifiable\ndata.\n