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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think as more Government rules are relaxed (and they Being relaxed), there will be natural movement of APs away from families that impose additional rules that are stricter than the government. The case that someone happens to have more risk averse AP who happens to have pre-existing conditions and would like to stay more conservative than what’s allowed.

Average AP is a healthy young adult who is here for the experience and not really being stuck with the employer 24/7. Virginia is phase 3 now. Getting in a car and traveling for fun with 2-3 people is allowed. I can’t prohibit her that. But I will be more liberal with providing her a car over the weekend so she can drive herself.

I also might recommend some more fun outside activities (for example I provided a book of hiking trails near us) or give a gift card to a restaurant that has outside seating. I’ll give her disposable masks so she can pass to her friends if they don’t have any. I’ll nicely ask her limiting gatherings to 2-3 people and she will likely do it... I’ll tell her to invite her friends to our pool in our time slot and not attend the pool myself.. if she wants to take a vacation I’ll probably rent a car for her, so that she doesn’t have to fly... and direct her away of the states that things are picking up...

However, I don’t think I’m legally allowed to restrict legal movements of another adult. I can only influence my reaction to those movements, by either rematching or asking her to test and then quarantining if it is positive.[/quote]

I think your suggestions are fantastic! But I would like to note that the question here is not really a "legal" one--the things that make a match work or not are not matters of law but of taste, preference, compatability. Many HFs and many APs will not be on the same page about quarantine and safety right now. And contrary to the beliefs of the lithium/slavery poster, not all the HFs are the cautious ones and all the APs the careless ones... Many APs are scared of getting sick in this country due to our messed up health care system, among other issues. I know more than one AP whose family spent this spring trying to coax her out of the house. Ours was one.  
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You are correct, legally (and it is indeed a legal question), you cannot restrict the movements of another adult. It is such a good sign to see a HM actually trying to foster a cultural exchange, as opposed to arguing it's an employment program where the AP has zero rights or expectations. [/quote]

Specious reasoning. You are correct that she has the right to leave my family household, but she doesn't have a legal right to return/keep living there. There is no legal requirement that I house someone who is doing things that I consider unsafe or in violation with the standards for my household. I am not renting an independent housing unit to an adult. There are laws that govern housing rental. Many of them don't apply to roommate situations--given the deference the law shows to people's rights and preferences about their own living spaces-- much less the au pair program, which is a whole different thing.

Of course, I'm in favor of doing things the way the PP with the hiking maps and gift cards has suggested--have sympathy for the au pair's situation in this year, which is NOT shaking out to be the cultural exchange opportunity it was supposed to be. We're taking a similar approach, and all are happy (and I, too, have offered our au pair a ticket home repeatedly). But I do want to be clear: HF's are under no legal obligation to keep an AP--and AP's under no legal obligation to stay with an HF--when they don't agree about safety norms and other preferences or values. I don't have to keep someone who is against my wishes bringing random guys home every night or smoking in my house or doing illegal drugs in her off time or putting pork products in my kosher or halal kitchen--etc etc etc.

And I certainly don't have to keep someone who's violating public health guidance (not the Trump version, but the advice of people like Fauci etc) in my home. My au pair may have a right as an adult to go to nightclubs, but she doesn't have a right to do that and keep living with me and caring for my children. If you're not clear on this check with your agency.

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