Lots of us use less than 40 hours and already pay more than the minimum wage. I have one child and we ask for about 15 hours a week + five of non child-care stuff (laundry, etc). That used to work in my favor. But I'm not going to pay more than the stipend because we don't use the hours. Will an AP prefer to work for someone for 45 hours a week because they can make more? I'm about to start looking for next year so we'll see!

Anonymous wrote:This has no impact on my future with the program. We already offer more money than the stipend. I hope more au pairs do ask for more money. Never sat well with me as an antitrust lawyer.

Interesting. I never really had a problem with the amount of the stipend and i'm an employment lawyer.

I'm a bit concerned about how this is rolled out. A Cultural Care rep told my friend yesterday that they are going to be very clear with prospective au pairs about the market rate, and that au pairs shouldn't ask for more if they want to match. So shady. My concerns is that new au pairs will show up, find out they re being paid less than peers, and then try to negotiate or rematch. This is terrinble from a family perspective, as by then we are relying on them for care. I'm fine negotiating and already pay above the minimum, but don't want to negotiate with a proverbial gun to my head.

This has no impact on my future with the program. We already offer more money than the stipend. I hope more au pairs do ask for more money. Never sat well with me as an antitrust lawyer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

+1
I will find an afternoon sitter/driver. No need for a nanny.

Exactly and those nannies cost $20+ per hour. Great news for part time nannies. Do you not get it?

I wouldn’t call a college student that drives my kid home and watches them for 2 hours a day a nanny. If you really think they qualify as “nannies”, no wonder au pairs are comparable to some “nannies”

Yep, they’re called [b]babysitters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

I agree. We simply can’t afford a nanny and don’t necessarily need one as we have two kids in school and need someone to be able to do a split shift. I think most families would replace having an au pair with doing aftercare.

Yep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

I agree. We simply can’t afford a nanny and don’t necessarily need one as we have two kids in school and need someone to be able to do a split shift. I think most families would replace having an au pair with doing aftercare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

+1
I will find an afternoon sitter/driver. No need for a nanny.

[b]

Exactly and those nannies cost $20+ per hour. Great news for part time nannies. Do you not get it?

I wouldn’t call a college student that drives my kid home and watches them for 2 hours a day a nanny. If you really think they qualify as “nannies”, no wonder au pairs are comparable to some “nannies”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

+1
I will find an afternoon sitter/driver. No need for a nanny.

[b]

Exactly and those nannies cost $20+ per hour. Great news for part time nannies. Do you not get it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

[b]

You might not but now many families will have less options for cheap childcare. This doesn’t afffect me as I’m paid above average but it’s grest news for nannies starting out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is the settlement going to be made public so we can see what it actually says?

It is public already. I just got it from the court's website (PACER).

My take aways:
They haven't decided how to divide the settlement monies yet. That's TBD.

The minimum stipend will remain unchanged but prospective au pairs and host families are going to receive notices encouraging them to negotiate salary.

The court still needs to hold a "fairness hearing" so this settlement won't be effective for at least 90 days.

Plaintiffs' counsel wants 35% plus costs.

This is helpful. Thanks so much. Will also search for a copy. Matching process is already difficult enough for us, so not looking forward to salary negotiations!

Anonymous wrote:is the settlement going to be made public so we can see what it actually says?

It is public already. I just got it from the court's website (PACER).

My take aways:
They haven't decided how to divide the settlement monies yet. That's TBD.

The minimum stipend will remain unchanged but prospective au pairs and host families are going to receive notices encouraging them to negotiate salary.

The court still needs to hold a "fairness hearing" so this settlement won't be effective for at least 90 days.

Plaintiffs' counsel wants 35% plus costs.

This will have no impact on my family or my plans for AP program. Silly comments about it ending the program or resulting in anything that impacts our day to day lives as HPs are underinformed. Article is nonsense. Wait to see what the agencies communicate.

is the settlement going to be made public so we can see what it actually says?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love this!!! Great news for nannies!

Not necessarily. We certainly won’t replace our au pair with a nanny. We have an au pair at the point for convenience (school age kids) and for the CULTURAL EXCHANGE (great for our kids to learn about au pair’s country and culture). We won’t hire a nanny if we end up no longer hosting an au pair.

+1
I will find an afternoon sitter/driver. No need for a nanny.