By reported decision filed February 27, 2019, the Commonwealth court applied the Domestic Service Exception of the Workers’ Compensation Act to home care aides. In Leer v. WCAB (Hudson), No. 1127 C.D. 2018 (Pa. Cmwlth 2019), Claimant through a claim petition sought workers’ compensation benefits for numerous injuries, including disfigurement, which she alleged occurred during the course and scope of her employment as a home health care aide to a woman with mild dementia. Employer denied all allegations and raised the Domestic Service Exception. The case was bifurcated on this issue. Ultimately, the Workers’ Compensation Judge denied the Claim Petition concluding that Claimant was entirely engaged in domestic service. The WCAB upheld the decision, as did the Commonwealth Court.
This case was very fact specific but focused on the lack of any professional expertise in Claimant’s work duties. Case law on this issue is sparse, but cases have held that someone who is engaged in domestic service if they work in or around the employer’s home; (2) for the comfort and benefit of the employer’s household; but (3) they do not further the employer’s business interests; and (4) they do not provide professional or skilled services. In upholding the WCJ and WCAB decisions, the Commonwealth Court focused on series of cases that distinguished a skilled nurse’s aide from a babysitter. The Court has held in the past that the Act does not require coverage for babysitters who work for employers who have not elected to come within the provisions of the Act. Dutrow v. WCAB (Heckard’s Catering), 632 A.2d 950 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993).
In Leer, Claimant testified that she worked nights, her job duties included getting Employer ready for bed and ensuring her needs were met, that she was secure in the house, and giving her medicine. Once the woman was asleep, Claimant would stay awake downstairs and would occasionally care for her Employer’s dogs. She did not provide any other type of medical care aside from making sure Employer took her medicine. Accordingly, the Commonwealth Court held that because Claimant’s main responsibility was to get Employer ready for bed and make sure she stayed in bed, her duties as a caretaker for a woman with mild dementia did not require any professional expertise and therefore fell within the Domestic Service Exception of the Act
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