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A sweeping legal decision on Friday affirmed the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) $7 million win against Prestige Home Care Agency, a company accused of failing to compensate home health aides (HHAs) for travel time between clients' homes. The ruling could send ripples across the home care industry, clarifying that travel time is integral to the duties of HHAs and must be compensated.

The Heart of the Case: Is Travel Time Part of the Job?

In a unanimous decision, the Third Circuit rejected Prestige’s appeal, which argued that travel time between clients’ homes should not be considered part of the aides’ job duties. Prestige had insisted that commuting time was separate from the core tasks of feeding, bathing, and dressing clients. However, the appellate judges disagreed, reaffirming the lower court's 2023 ruling.

U.S. Circuit Judge David J. Porter, writing for the panel, stressed that for home health aides, "travel is integral and indispensable to providing in-home healthcare." He explained that the aides cannot fulfill their caregiving duties without the travel between clients' homes, making it a critical part of their daily responsibilities.

Prestige’s Argument Rejected: Travel is Essential to the Role

The court was firm in its stance, pointing out that while travel unrelated to the job—like commuting home or shopping—does not need to be compensated, the travel between homes of multiple patients is a central component of the aides’ workday. The ruling made clear that this travel was not a peripheral task but rather integral to the aides’ ability to provide care.

"Prestige's HHAs are hired to travel and provide care to clients where they reside, rather than meeting them in hospitals or clinics," the opinion read. The panel emphasized that common sense dictated the travel between clients' homes was unavoidable and necessary for the work the aides were hired to do.

Willful Violations and Overtime Failures: The Bigger Picture

The court also upheld a finding that Prestige’s violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were willful. This decision allowed the statute of limitations to be extended, including a larger group of affected employees in the compensation claim.

The case traces back to 2017 when the DOL first investigated Prestige for failing to pay overtime wages. The company reached a preliminary agreement with the DOL on corrective measures but later failed to meet its obligations, leading to the $7 million lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of 1,230 HHAs.

The Road to Legal Resolution: A Long-Standing Dispute

The DOL alleged that Prestige had systematically failed to compensate HHAs for the time spent traveling between clients’ homes and the office, violating the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA. Prestige’s appeal was rejected in June 2023, after the company argued that there was no evidence its aides traveled to multiple locations during their shifts. However, the court found ample evidence showing that the aides were indeed required to visit more than one client during their workdays, further solidifying the case against the company.