Proposed DC legislation re: domestic workers

[Anonymous]

Au Pairs will become the most expensive form of childcare so they will no longer be employed, plain and simple.

$15 an hour = $34,000 a year for full time plus overtime hours (above 40 even though 45 hrs is not considered overtime under the federal regulations so this is a conflict), plus $9k a year for the agency fee, plus higher mortgage for the extra room in your house, plus food, cell phone, transportation, class tuition, AND PLUS payroll taxes, potential worker's compensation requirements, possibly added health care requirements under the new rules.

They will be the same price or more as live-in nannies but will have all of the baggage of an AP, minus the professionalism of a nanny who looks at this as a career and likely a live-in nanny's experience, age, and maturity. Oh and you'll have to find a new one every 1-2 years and they won't speak English very well or potentially drive.

Yeah- makes it sound really appealing. APs in DC will be no more.

I truly think the Council did not know about this program or have any thoughts about it pre drafting. So we just need to educate. I'm hopeful with the example of New York's exemption.

[Anonymous]

Wow- didn't realize that word got out about this DC bill almost 6 weeks ago per this prior thread. Now I do feel like the agencies are behind the ball. Some interesting info on how it's played out in Mass and how CCAP addressed it there:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/358698.page

[Anonymous]

Yep, that was me that posted on the other thread that PP linked. I told our LCC about it (APIA) and she didn't know about it. I then raised it with our regional director. You would think that they would be all over this issue in every state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, I don't see how you can assume you can take out room and board when Massachusetts is grappling with that currently and it seems almost unlikely that bill will allowing a 40% deduction will even pass.

And even if this is a loophole that is established, how do you determine what room and board is? Is a basement bedroom worse than an upstairs? What if they have a private bathroom? Private exit? Separate cooking space? What about based on location desirability? A house in Dupont has to be priced higher than a house in Anacostia. How do you determine market value of a spare room? Group home advertisements in your area? Does the agency make the determination? Is that creating an incentive for APs to live in subpar situations because they'll have less deducted from their paychecks?

Can’t deduct room and board necessarily but can deduct cell phone, % personal use of car, anything like that, plus they’d have to pay state and local taxes and income like education benefit is taxable. Then you pay only for hours worked. So for people using it for the split schedule coverage, it works out to about the same for a lot more headache.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO the key takeaways for me are:
1. Au pair regulations at 22 CFR § 62.31 already include many of the protections domestic workers are seeking with this legislation and enforcement is a separate issue
2. Attempting to apply state minimum wage laws does not universally benefit au pairs because a) many families do not use full time hours b) they must now withhold more taxes and therefore their net pay would actually drop c) au pairs are federally prohibited from working overtime
3. This is overly burdensome for working families— a contingency DC purports to care about — without any substantive benefit to APs, and in some cases a net loss of wages.

What percentage of the au pairs would agree with your opinions? Perhaps they should have an opportunity to voice their own opinions.

You are always welcome to voice your opinion and keep in mind that what I and others are saying is NOT mutually exclusive to passing higher wages and protections to APs. I think APs should be paid more.
But trying to apply laws designed for US permanent resident nannies to foreigners on a 1-year temporary exchange visa will not help APs, passing a higher federal minimum wage or requiring stricter oversight and reporting by the agencies will.

[Anonymous]

Brandon Todd, the bills sponsor, will host a meet and greet that seems like a great opportunity for families to engage with him on this issue.

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brandon Todd, the bills sponsor, will host a meet and greet that seems like a great opportunity for families to engage with him on this issue.

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

I will go to this, others? Maybe some LCCs?

[Anonymous]

This is a great time for au pairs to come since the kids will be in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great time for au pairs to come since the kids will be in school.

??? Most APs in our neighborhood are with babies and tots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great time for au pairs to come since the kids will be in school.

??? Most APs in our neighborhood are with babies and tots.

They can come to! Why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Au Pairs will become the most expensive form of childcare so they will no longer be employed, plain and simple.

$15 an hour = $34,000 a year for full time plus overtime hours (above 40 even though 45 hrs is not considered overtime under the federal regulations so this is a conflict), plus $9k a year for the agency fee, plus higher mortgage for the extra room in your house, plus food, cell phone, transportation, class tuition, AND PLUS payroll taxes, potential worker's compensation requirements, possibly added health care requirements under the new rules.

They will be the same price or more as live-in nannies but will have all of the baggage of an AP, minus the professionalism of a nanny who looks at this as a career and likely a live-in nanny's experience, age, and maturity. Oh and you'll have to find a new one every 1-2 years and they won't speak English very well or potentially drive.

Yeah- makes it sound really appealing. APs in DC will be no more.

I truly think the Council did not know about this program or have any thoughts about it pre drafting. So we just need to educate. I'm hopeful with the example of New York's exemption.

+100, I emailed Brandon Todd Legislative guy (the one who wrote the law) about this back in December and he told me they didn't think about au pairs when writing this. We need to educate them, make our voice heard and I believe we have a good chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brandon Todd, the bills sponsor, will host a meet and greet that seems like a great opportunity for families to engage with him on this issue.

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

This needs it’s own thread, to draw attention to the meeting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brandon Todd, the bills sponsor, will host a meet and greet that seems like a great opportunity for families to engage with him on this issue.

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

This needs it’s own thread, to draw attention to the meeting!

And for lots of au pairs to come!

[Anonymous]

Hi all - I'm a current Massachusetts mom formerly DC/MD mom, but if you are interested in joining with us on a nationwide coalition to address some of the possible changes to the au pair program, please find us here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/519447878928400

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - I'm a current Massachusetts mom formerly DC/MD mom, but if you are interested in joining with us on a nationwide coalition to address some of the possible changes to the au pair program, please find us here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/519447878928400

I joined this group and learned that the NY exemption is actually pretty shaky since it is not in the actual legislation, but is just an administrative policy they have imposed. It will surely be challenged at some point. So while we should still cite to it, it's not as solid as it seems! This is a major issue before Washington state legislators and Seattle City Council it seems too and this group mentioned about has been mounting the responses there.