SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A spokeswoman says Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration offered the SEIU Healthcare union a chance to discuss overtime-pay limitations for home care workers, but the union declined.
SEIU filed an unfair labor practices complaint Friday on behalf of 24,000 home workers who make $13 an hour caring for disabled residents at home. They say severe restrictions on overtime that Rauner implemented May 1 should have been negotiated in contract talks.
Catherine Kelly is spokeswoman for the Republican governor. She says the policy was necessary after a federal rule took effect Jan. 1, requiring the workers to receive time-and-a-half for work over 40 hours.
SEIU's Terry Harkin says Rauner's policy punishes disabled residents and disrupts "the continuity of care" provided by families and caregivers well known to the disabled residents.