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[quote=Anonymous]
[i]1) Making them work weekends because they take their kid to a daycare [/i]

So the AP is off during the week and they have to work weekends? I don't see the issue here. 1)That would have been agreed upon before the AP came. 2)Most young people work weekends. If you are 21 years old, do you have an office 9-5 job Monday-Friday job? Not likely. Chances are you are working in the mall at a store, working at a restaurant etc.

[i]2) Maxing out their hours (45) when they know they only make $200 a week pre tax [/i]

They signed up to work 45 hours a week. And yes, they only make $200 in stipend but that is all spending money. Let's do some math.

A person living in this area, living in a shared home would be spending per month -

$600 in rent (and this is cheap)
$100 in utilities
$240 in food (that is $8 about a day) 
$60 for a cell phone
$100 (car insurance, car maintenance) 
$20 for small household goods like toilet paper, trash bags, laundry soap etc

Total = $1,120

1,120 x 12 = $13,440 per year

$200 (weekly AP stipend) X 52 weeks  = $10,400

$10,400 + $13,440 = $23,840

$23,840 a year is what the AP is really "making" if you want to get right down to it. Is that a lot of money? No, it's not, but how much were they making in the home country? And how hard where they working for the money? There also other factors, like the $500 towards schooling, paid holidays off etc... I'd say when you consider all of that my number should be more like $25,500. A first year teacher in Montana makes $30,000.

[i]5) Charging au pairs for using the car. 
[/i]

Making an AP pay for their own gas is not charging them. And while I've not done this myself, I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask for an Au Pair to pay for an oil change if they are the ones driving the car all the time for personal use. I know an AP who is the only driver of the car her family lets her use. She drives this car from VA to PA literally every week. She does this on her free time. She should pay for some of the basic maintenance on this car IMO.

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