Upcoming mtg with Brandon Todd, DC Legislator sponsoring new bill that could affect DC au pairs!

[Anonymous]

Brandon Todd, the sponsor of the Domestic Workers Protection Act of 2019, will host a meet and greet that seems like a great opportunity for families to engage with him on this issue. For those who don't know, unless an exemption is carved out for au pairs here on a J-1 Exchange visa, this bill would fundamentally change the au pair program in many ways, making it unaffordable and impractical for many of us.

DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 2020
TIME: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
LOCATION: Wapa Cafe
6230 Georgia Ave, NW

Read more about this issue on these threads:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/359474.page
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/358698.page
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/359582.page

[Anonymous]

It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

The au pair program is very regulated with many protections for au pairs. If the bill passes in this form, the program will end in DC. I have hosted 3 au pairs so far and all have cried when they left, thanking us for the best year ever. We are in touch with all of them. Please stop assuming this program abuses young foreign workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

You keep posting about things you don't understand. The DC council cannot protect APs, they can kill the program in DC (which is what you probably want) or just exclude APs from the bill. APs should email the state department if they want increased protection/benefits. The program need an overhaul but this must happen at the federal level where the program was created. Kapiche? Maybe you can now go back to the nanny forum and worry about stuffs that actually impact you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

Any law that DC or a state passes will not change this. They have no ability to pass laws that impact the terms of your J1 visa. That is a law that needs to be passed by the federal government, the state department.

The only thing this keeps could potentially impact is your wages. You may be entitled to a higher hourly wage. However, accepting all the benefits of DC wage laws means you also have to accept the downsides. Those downsides include paying higher taxes and being paid only for hours you actually work.

As a HM I completely support better protections for APs. The problem is that the federal government needs to take action. States/DC do not have the legal authority to pass laws that provide meaningful protections and benefits to APs. Continue to lobby at the federal level.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that Brandon Todd was the original sponsor of the bill, but now it is in the committee headed by Elissa Silverman. So essentially, she and everyone else on that committee should be the main targets. Allen, Grosso, McDuffie, White-- these are the people that have the power to change what is in it now. He's only now just another vote on the council when it comes up in its final form after committee changes. Engagement with him would've been better at the outset, apparently this bill first appeared in September?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that Brandon Todd was the original sponsor of the bill, but now it is in the committee headed by Elissa Silverman. So essentially, she and everyone else on that committee should be the main targets. Allen, Grosso, McDuffie, White-- these are the people that have the power to change what is in it now. He's only now just another vote on the council when it comes up in its final form after committee changes. Engagement with him would've been better at the outset, apparently this bill first appeared in September?

+1 you are spot on. He is only one Vote now. The committee councilmembers are who we should target now and if (actually more like when) the bill makes to general vote, target your councilmember. But it doesn't hurt to target everyone at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

Most APs won’t benefit from this bill. By the time it goes into effect, current APs will most likely be home already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

Most APs won’t benefit from this bill. By the time it goes into effect, current APs will most likely be home already.

Basically, if it passes as is (currently says nothing about APs as the Mr. Todd admits they did not think about them), it will take a lawsuit to make a determination on whether APs should be included, just like in Mass. That in itself will take a year or more even AFTER the legislation passes which apparently may not even be until late 2020 or early 2021. The other option is it gets edited in committee to exempt or out-rightly include au pairs in the definition of "domestic worker." So then it either won't apply to au pairs OR it will, but again it may not pass until late next year or early next.

So this really does not impact any APs currently here. So if you ask yours to help in this effort, make sure you help him/her realize that (Cultural Care sent the notice to their Au Pairs too which makes it very confusing for them). It basically this boils down to, do you think people like you should have the opportunity to come to DC to be an Au Pair? Did you find the program effective and enjoyable? Can you speak about your experience being positive? Because if APs start costing more than live-in nannies, they will be nonexistent in this city. Or they will be used for such limited hours that they will not end up making any more money than they did prior. It will simply cut down the number of AP host families. The nannies and domestic worker lobby groups WANT THIS- they are the groups that further the exploitation narrative because it will only benefit NANNIES who already make well above minimum wage in DC. I've never heard of a nanny making less than $18 an hour. They see this as a way to stomp out competition and further raise rates for nannies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very important for au pairs to come to see what kind of protections they can ask for. Right now they have none. If they report anything to their agency, they’ll just sent home if they don’t quickly find another match.

Most APs won’t benefit from this bill. By the time it goes into effect, current APs will most likely be home already.

Basically, if it passes as is (currently says nothing about APs as the Mr. Todd admits they did not think about them), it will take a lawsuit to make a determination on whether APs should be included, just like in Mass. That in itself will take a year or more even AFTER the legislation passes which apparently may not even be until late 2020 or early 2021. The other option is it gets edited in committee to exempt or out-rightly include au pairs in the definition of "domestic worker." So then it either won't apply to au pairs OR it will, but again it may not pass until late next year or early next.

So this really does not impact any APs currently here. So if you ask yours to help in this effort, make sure you help him/her realize that (Cultural Care sent the notice to their Au Pairs too which makes it very confusing for them). It basically this boils down to, do you think people like you should have the opportunity to come to DC to be an Au Pair? Did you find the program effective and enjoyable? Can you speak about your experience being positive? Because if APs start costing more than live-in nannies, they will be nonexistent in this city. Or they will be used for such limited hours that they will not end up making any more money than they did prior. It will simply cut down the number of AP host families. The nannies and domestic worker lobby groups WANT THIS- they are the groups that further the exploitation narrative because it will only benefit NANNIES who already make well above minimum wage in DC. I've never heard of a nanny making less than $18 an hour. They see this as a way to stomp out competition and further raise rates for nannies.

I’m pp. not only am I a nanny, instead some families to APs, because while I recognize that they need care, they can’t afford a nanny. So, no, I don’t want the program discontinued (and neither does my agency or my friends who are also nannies).

[Anonymous]

Well, if you are a Ward 4 resident, you should go, because he’s voting for his constituents, and you’re a constituent.