A message from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) on the recent labor issue that would restrict lift use by 16- and 17-year-old employees:

“We wanted to bring you up to date on the child labor law issue that is negatively impacting many of your member facilities.  Specifically, the Wage and Hour division of the Dept. of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule on child labor laws on May 20.  The rule was effective on July 19.  The rule essentially states that individuals under 18 years of age cannot use “hoists” or “manlifts,” which, per DOL’s Wage and Hour division, include patient lifts.  This point is clarified in the Wage and Hour division’s July 2010 “Fact Sheet #52 -- The Employment of Youth in the Health Care Industry (question #8).”

The Child Labor division of the DOL has expressed interest in meeting with AHCA and AAHSA to discuss this issue, and we are also seeking the opinion of legal counsel on how we can challenge the DOL’s interpretation.  In addition, the AHCA Board of Governors will be advised of this issue at its September 8 meeting.  We should have more information for you in the next few weeks.”

The good news is that work is being done to try to address the hardship this new interpretation raises—please remember to respond to the data-gathering survey we sent out by email on Thursday, August 26, 2010.  The data will help us portray the depth of the issue to AHCA and DOL.  If you did not complete the survey, you may click here to complete it (only one survey response per facility).  NOTE:  The deadline has been extended on this survey, so if your facility has not yet responded, there is still time to do so.

Patti Cullen, CAE
952.851.2487
pcullen@careproviders.org

Our Sponsors

Resources