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Run the Payroll Fee Auditor →Blog · Payroll Management · Home Health
Home Health Agencies: Managing Part-Time Worker Payroll (2026)
Part-time payroll in home health agencies carries the same withholding and overtime rules as full-time, and part-time hours count toward the ACA employer mandate at 120 hours a month per full-time equivalent. BEG: $45 per employee per month inside the payroll software you already use, live in 3 to 5 days.
Rules that matter for part-time home health agency staff
Travel between clients during the workday is hours worked and the agency must pay for it; ordinary travel from home to the first client and home from the last is not. In the fact sheet example, the 30 minutes an aide spends driving from one client's home to the next is paid time.
Since January 1, 2015, home care agencies and other third-party employers cannot claim the companionship services exemption and must pay minimum wage and overtime after 40 hours even when the worker is jointly employed by the household. The exemption itself covers fellowship and protection only, with care limited to 20 percent of hours per consumer per workweek and no medically related tasks.
The arithmetic
Overtime is owed after 40 hours in the workweek regardless of part-time status, and a part-time employee who picks up shifts across two roles has their regular rate blended across both. For the ACA, monthly hours of all non-full-time employees are pooled and divided by 120 to produce full-time equivalents; 60 part-time employees at 60 hours a month are 30 FTEs. For FMLA, a part-time employee counts as one employee toward the 50 threshold and is eligible personally only after 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. At the BLS May 2025 national median for home health and personal care aides, $35,800 a year or about $17 an hour, a 20-hour week is $344 before tax.
The rules behind this page, with sources
General information, not legal advice. Every rule below was read on the agency page linked next to it.
- Travel between clients during the workday is hours worked and the agency must pay for it; ordinary travel from home to the first client and home from the last is not. In the fact sheet example, the 30 minutes an aide spends driving from one client's home to the next is paid time. [DOL Fact Sheet #79D]
- Since January 1, 2015, home care agencies and other third-party employers cannot claim the companionship services exemption and must pay minimum wage and overtime after 40 hours even when the worker is jointly employed by the household. The exemption itself covers fellowship and protection only, with care limited to 20 percent of hours per consumer per workweek and no medically related tasks. [DOL Fact Sheet #79A]
Read the full guide to ACA reporting and the employer mandate, and the rest of the home health agency payroll library.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time registered nurses at a home health agency count toward the ACA 50-employee test?
Yes, as full-time equivalents: their monthly hours are pooled and divided by 120. That is why the count is run from payroll hours every year rather than from headcount.
Is overtime owed to a part-time home health agency employee?
Yes, after 40 hours in a workweek, at time and one half on the regular rate. Part-time status changes benefits eligibility, not the overtime rule. Travel between clients during the workday is hours worked and the agency must pay for it; ordinary travel from home to the first client and home from the last is not.
What does managed payroll cost for a home health agency?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Visit-based aide pay, travel time reimbursement and Medicaid billing vs payroll are configured at setup, not billed as add-ons.
Related Resources
Anthony leads payroll solutions at Business Executive Group, a national managed payroll firm serving businesses across industries including Home Health Agencies. BEG manages payroll at $45 PEPM, all-inclusive, with deep expertise in compliance, multi-state filing, and industry-specific payroll requirements. Get instant pricing at beghr.com.
Authoritative source: U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
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