Section 19A:4H - Consumer directed care workers(a) A consumer or the consumer's surrogate shall retain the right to recruit, hire, train, manage and terminate any CDC worker providing services to the consumer.(b)(1) Consumer directed care workers shall be considered public employees, as defined by and solely for the purposes of chapter 150E and section 17J of chapter 180. Chapter 150E shall apply to consumer directed care workers unless chapter 150E is inconsistent with sections 4F to 4I, inclusive, in which case said sections shall control. Consumer directed care workers shall be treated as state employees solely for the purposes of section 17A of chapter 180. Consumer directed care workers shall not be considered public employees or state employees for any other purpose other than those in this paragraph. Consumer directed care workers shall not be eligible for benefits through the group insurance commission, the state board of retirement or the state employee workers' compensation program.(2) The CDC workforce council shall be the employer, as defined by and solely for the purposes of chapter 150E and sections 17A and 17J of chapter 180 and deductions under sections 17A and 17J of chapter 180 may be made by any entity authorized by the commonwealth to compensate consumer directed care workers through the home care program consumer directed care option.(c) Consumer directed care workers who are employees of the council under this section shall not be considered public employees or employees of the council for any other purpose. Nothing in this chapter shall alter the obligations of the commonwealth or the consumer to provide their share of social security, federal and state unemployment taxes, Medicare and worker's compensation insurance under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, federal and state unemployment law or the Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Act.(d) Pursuant to section 9A of chapter 150E, no consumer directed care worker shall engage in a strike or induce, encourage or condone any strike, work stoppage, slowdown or withholding of services by any consumer directed care worker.(e) The appropriate bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining shall be a statewide unit of all consumer directed care workers. The showing of interest required to request an election or for an intervener seeking to appear on the ballot shall be 10 per cent of the bargaining unit.(f) The council or its contractors shall not be held vicariously liable for the action or inaction of any consumer directed care worker.(g) The members of the council shall be immune from any liability resulting from the implementation of sections 4F to 4H, inclusive.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 19A, § 4H
Added by Acts 2023 , c. 77, § 5, eff. 12/4/2023.