High court rejects appeal over wages for home care workers

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to Obama administration regulations that extend minimum wage and overtime pay rights to nearly 2 million home health care workers.

The justices on Monday turned away an appeal from several home care industry groups that said the Labor Department overstepped its authority when it approved the new rules in 2013.

The rules apply to workers hired through third-party staffing agencies that provide home care to the elderly and people with injuries, illnesses or disabilities.

A federal judge had scrapped the regulations last year, but a federal appeals court reversed that ruling.

Workers hired through third-party staffing agencies had previously been exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay rules since 1974.