Compliance
Home Care Overtime Rules: What Agencies Owe Caregivers
Since 2015, home care agencies must pay caregivers overtime after 40 hours in a workweek. How the rule works, what counts as hours worked, and which states add daily overtime.
Illinois overtime rules for home care workers
Last verified October 28, 2026 · All Illinois resources
In Illinois, overtime is time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek. The state minimum wage is $15.00 an hour. The federal Home Care Rule bars agencies from the companionship and live-in exemptions, though the Department of Labor stopped enforcing it against agencies in July 2025 while it considers undoing it. Illinois's own law also requires overtime for agency caregivers, so they would still be owed it if the federal rule is undone.
What are Illinois's overtime and minimum wage rules?
| Minimum wage | $15.00 an hour |
|---|---|
| Weekly overtime | After 40 hours |
| Daily overtime | None |
Does Illinois law require overtime for agency caregivers?
Yes. The Minimum Wage Law expressly covers domestic workers (820 ILCS 105/3(d)), the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights defines domestic work to include caregiving, home health and companion services with no carve-out for agencies (820 ILCS 182/10), and the overtime section has no companionship or live-in exemption (820 ILCS 105/4a). Agency caregivers get 1.5 times their regular rate after 40 hours.
Does Illinois have special rules for home care workers?
The Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights Act (820 ILCS 182, effective 2017-01-01) defines domestic work to include caregiving, personal care, home health and companion services for elderly or disabled people, and brings domestic workers under the Minimum Wage Law (820 ILCS 105/3(d)), including its overtime rules. Domestic workers must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every seven-day period and must be paid the overtime rate if they agree to work that day (820 ILCS 140/2).
Can sleep time be unpaid on 24-hour shifts in Illinois?
Illinois has no sleep-time exclusion for domestic workers: hours worked include all time a domestic worker is not completely relieved of all work-related duties (56 Ill. Adm. Code 210.110).
Calculate a week of overtime in Illinois
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Overtime rules by state: other states
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