DOL Posts Wage Parity Forms 

Situation Report | October 19, 2020

The state Department of Labor (DOL) has posted forms for home care agencies and Fiscal Intermediaries who provide services in New York City, Long Island and Westchester covered under the state’s Wage Parity Law. 

The forms include: 

The final 2020-21 state budget contained many provisions that affect the wage parity requirements. Some of them include: 

  • New annual certification by Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs), Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs), Long Term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs), Fiscal Intermediaries (FIs) and managed care plans that no portion of the dollar spent (or to be spent) for wages or benefits was returned to the LHCSA, CHHA, FI or managed care plan.
  • A new annual compliance statement of wage hours and expenses and an independently audited financial statement verifying such expenses by LHCSAs and FIs to contracted CHHAs, LTHHCPs and managed care plans.
  • A requirement that CHHAs, LTHHCPs, and managed care plans review and assess the annual compliance statement of wage parity hours and expenses and make a referral to DOL for “any reasonably suspected failures” of LHCSAs or FIs to conform to the wage parity requirements.
  • A requirement that paystubs for covered employees must provide information about wage parity benefits.
  • Enforcement provisions: any CHHA, LHCSA, LTHHCP, managed care plan or FI that pays less than required wage and supplement amounts shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and face fines.

At the end of September, DOL posted a new Notice of Pay Rate form that is required to be given to employees covered under the state Wage Parity Law upon hire and before a change in pay rate. 

Previously, DOL also posted guidance and an employee’s wage statement/pay stub that includes information for each wage parity supplemental benefit provided. 

HCA will be scheduling a webinar soon to review the above changes and new forms to ensure agency compliance with the new requirements.