HomeHero CareGiver Worker Class Action
HomeHero is suspected of not paying its caregiver or care taker workers according to the law. You may be owed a significant amount of money if you have worked for HomeHero. Please contact us to find out about your legal rights. The workers, called Heros or care givers, who are caring for elders and others, are likely not being paid as they should under the law. If you have worked for Home Hero or know someone who has worked for Home Hero, please contact us using the form on this page or call us at 424-245-5505. The Class Action News is currently investigating this situation.
Background
Some legal experts argue that HomeHero and the people hiring HomeHero’s workers hold a lot of control over the worker and so HomeHero may be violating labor laws. If a worker is paid as one type of worker but is really another type of worker, it’s called misclassifying. Home Hero may be misclassifying its employees by labeling them as a contractor when they should be labeled as an employee. Under IRS rules, HomeHero may be breaking the law because it should not be doing things like telling its care givers to complete health care checklists or follow strict privacy guidelines. Tia Koonse, legal policy research manager at the UCLA Labor Center said, “This sounds an awful lot to me like it is misclassification.” That means the workers should be paid like employees with all the benefits of being an employee including break times and get payments like social security insurance and workers compensation insurance. She also noted that “It is exceptionally rare that I see any court or labor hearing officer decide that any caregiver is an independent contractor. In this industry, almost every single worker is an employee.” Home Hero is one of the largest homecare providers in the state of California, providing over 1 million hours of care to thousands of families nationwide. The company works kind of like Uber. HomeHero matches in-home caregivers who work as independent contractors with elderly clients through looking at data about the clients and by getting them to engage in online video interviews.
Employment Misclassification
To understand what is an independent contractor, we can look at three things:
- (1) an independent contractor provides a good or service to another individual or business, often under the terms of a contract that dictates the work outcome, but the contractor retains control over how they provide the good or service.
- (2) the contractor is not subject to the employer’s control or guidance except as designated in a mutually binding agreement. The contract for a specific job usually describes its expected outcome.
- (3) essentially, independent contractors treat their employers more like customers or clients, often having multiple clients, and are self employed.
According to the IRS there are some tests as well: Behavioral, Financial, and type of relationship. Behavioral is how much control the company has over the contractor; financial is are the business aspects of the worker’s job control by the payer; and relationship is defined as if there is written contracts or employee-type benefits. One last test is the Department of Labor economic reality test. This test looks at seven factors the court must consider. The first is the extent to which the services rendered are an integral part of the principal’s business. Second, the permanency of the relationship. Third, the amount of the alleged contractor’s investment in facilities and equipment. Fourth, the nature and degree of control by the principal. Fifth, the alleged contractor’s opportunities for profit and loss. Sixth, the amount of initiative, judgment, or foresight in open market competition with others required for the success of the claimed independent contractor. Lastly, the degree of independent business organization and operation.
Potential Class Action Suit
Reports indicate that HomeHero may not be paying their health care givers what is legally owed to them. If you were misclassified by HomeHero please contact us using the form on this page or call us at 424-245-5505. You may be part of a class action lawsuit.
