Filipino care home owners work with govt to resolve labor issues

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – This is a walk in support of a safe and affordable environment for California seniors and disabled adults.

Care home owners want to ensure that state and federal law does not create burdensome regulations that will prevent senior citizens from choosing small, home-like settings like six-bed facilities.

Many care homes have been investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor and have found violations.

Some have been paying their caregivers in cases up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Care home owners recently met with the U.S. Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco.

“We’re actually coming to the middle and hoping for a great resolution to address all the issues that are happening on both sides,” said Janet Baena Valencia who is the Northern California President of 6Beds, Inc.

6Beds reports that many care homes are closing because they cannot raise rates on their low income residents to pay for food and electricity bills.

Care home owners say they are actually losing money and that the real victims will be the residents.

“Where are they going to go,” asked Valencia. “They can’t stay in the skilled nursing facilities for a long time because they need to be there if the care is appropriate.”

Some Filipino caregivers were on hand to show support for their employers.

“The fact is that our care home owners are taking care of us,” said Ricky Villaluz. “They give us shelter, food, everything we need. Even the toiletries, they provide it.”

Some 6Beds leaders recently traveled to Washington DC to speak with legislators.

They say concerns of residential care facilities and federal labor issues need to be addressed because it is not just a problem in California but in other parts of the country as well.

You can contact Rommel Conclara at rommel_conclara@abs-cbn.com and follow him on Twitter @rommelconclara for more information.