Is this common?

What a rip off. You staff need to band together and let them know it is not ok. Maybe you can file for back pay?

If you are classified as "non-exempt" you should be paid overtime.

It seems I misspoke, we must be exempt because they do not have to pay us for anything we work beyond 8 hours/day. I'm just wondering if others in home health are experiencing long hours as well. I am actually contemplating a move to case management for a big insurance provider to get my life back.

Actually, you're probably NOT exempt unless you're in a mostly managerial position (which if you're doing hands-on HH visits, isn't the case)... contact your state's labor board (or "wage and hour division" or whatever it's called in your area) for particulars.

This bulletin from the US Department of Labor shows the federal guidelines:

Nurses

To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:

* The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;

* The employee's primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment;

* The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and

* The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay. However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt.

Licensed practical nurses and other similar health care employees, however, generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals, regardless of work experience and training, because possession of a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations, and are entitled to overtime pay.

While salaried Registered Nurses MAY be considered exempt from the FLSA overtime requirements, I think most investigators would have a hard time considering the hands-on tasks completed by HH nurses to be "predominantly intellectual in character". Case managers who are doing supervisory visits or certification visits only, without actually performing hands-on patient care, could be considered to be providing "predominantly intellectual" services and therefore could qualify for exempt status.

Definitely check into your state's requirements for exempt status, too -- they are usually even more strict than the federal standards.

Thanks for that info, I will contact the labor board for clarity.