A Court Said Au Pairs Deserve Minimum Wage. Some Families Are Protesting.

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

A court found that au pairs were entitled to rights of domestic workers in Massachusetts. Families said they did not know how they would pay. Some au pairs were elated.

By Kate Taylor
Jan. 8, 2020

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When Stephanie Mayberg, a physician assistant, learned that a court ruling meant her child care costs were about to increase by 250 percent, she was stunned. The recent federal court decision, that au pairs were entitled to the rights of domestic workers in Massachusetts, including being paid a minimum wage, left Ms. Mayberg, of Southborough, wondering how she and her husband could afford to keep their au pair from Colombia for a second year.

But Claudia Villamizar was elated when she heard of the ruling. Ms. Villamizar, who had once been an au pair in Massachusetts from Colombia, recalled being miserable when a family required her to work 65 hours a week — far more than the 45 hours allowed under the federal au pair program. She said the family had kicked her out of the house when she complained.

. . .

The ruling in December by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a lower-court decision dismissing a lawsuit by an au pair agency against the Massachusetts attorney general. The lawsuit sought to prevent the attorney general from applying the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights to au pairs.

Under a federal program administered by the State Department, au pairs are paid a stipend of roughly $195 per week, in addition to receiving room and board. Host families also must pay up to $500 a year toward an au pair’s academic work.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/us/au-pair-massachusetts-ruling.html?emc=rss&partner=rss

[MrScorpio]

1. Good.

No more foreign born, semi-slave labor, thank you very much.

[B Stieg]

2. I remember summer on Nantucket...

Generally, these folks are hired by wealthy families, no?
So now some rich folks are realizing that child care costs are staggeringly high if you're forced to pay workers even minimum wage.
It's a pretty abusive system, and if the rich have to pay more, than I'll just say "welcome to the world."

[getagrip_already]

13. Well, who else can afford $10k/year plus fees to an agency?

Plus have an extra room, and probably a 3rd car.

Then there is food and medical costs. It adds up.

Not something even an average middle class family could afford.

It deserves a living wage. Sorry if you can't afford it. Nobody promised you a live-in slave.

[RandiFan1290]

3. These 1%ers like their slave labor. nt

[3Hotdogs]

6. Fuck 'em. Good ruling.

[elias7]

4. This will destroy the program

Au pair program was mutually beneficial. A young person could come from another country, learn the language, go to classes (covered by family), get free room and board and even auto insurance, in exchange for 45 hours of childcare.

This costs $200/wk for families but will now go to $500/wk. I don’t know why the lawsuit went so far. The au pair program is not about getting a job in a foreign country, but cultural exchange. People can rag on the wealthy slave laborers all they want, but this was never that. Now, having to spend $25k on day care rather than $19k.

With a minimum wage salary, there is no need for free room and board any longer.

[Demonaut]

10. but....progress

[Blue_playwright]

11. I thought the same thing

I thought the same thing, That it was more an exchange program. The fact that they are being provided room and board seems to be a bear exchange so someone can Go to College Abroad. However it does sound like it needed more regulation if students were being overworked.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. It's as much about "cultural exchange" as unpaid internships are about "the experience."

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

15. Not commenting on the Au Pair issue.

Not commenting on the Au Pair issue. I do not know enough about it.

But unpaid internships can be very good experiences. I did three as an undergraduate. Two of the three led to well-paid positions with the employer with which I was interning. I would not have gotten the jobs without the experience I earned in the internships. I learn many of the needed skills while an intern.

I had paid internships in grad school, but I knew more then and could contribute more to the organizations.

Money is good, but the experience can be (not always is) valuable in and of itself.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. Unpaid internships are inherently exclusive and are often abused by companies.

The rules of changed somewhat, but up until a year or two ago, many, many unpaid internships really should have been paid, under DOL rules.

[getagrip_already]

14. it was always about that.....

45 hours a week? They take of the kids from 7 am to 7 pm weekdays, and a large portion of the weekends. They also fill in when the parents go out out night. And they cook and clean for the entire household.

More like 90 hours. Oh, you want to complain? Go back to poverty. You will never travel to america again.

Just because the cage is guilded, doesn't make it not a cage.

[sdfernando]

19. This!

^^^ THIS ^^^

If the program was abused it would probably be just fine...but we all know that these people work way more then 45 hours and the hosting families have all the leverage.

[Sherman A1]

5. Excellent

I suspect that they deserve much more than minimum wage.

[3Hotdogs]

7. My step daughter is a physician assistant. She got a 35K Xmas bonus.

Ms. Mayberg is making at least 100K if she is bad at the job. Her husband also works. She can afford the increase.

[Coventina]

8. Fantastic!! n/t

[obamanut2012]

9. About time!

[rainin]

16. They could have improved the working conditions without increasing the cost

We had an au pair for a year and our program came with strict rules on hours worked as well as responsibilities. For example, the caregiver could not be asked to do any chore that wasn't directly in service to the child. I couldn't ask her to clean my house, for example. All the au pairs had a local manager who would do house visits and meet with the au pairs throughout the year.

We are middle class and this program was expensive for us, but we did it for many reasons. It's been 18 years and we still maintain a relationship with our au pair. My oldest went to see her in Ireland for 3 weeks over one summer during college. We consider her family.

Increasing the pay makes no sense. All their needs are taken care of. They are provided with transportation, housing and meals. The stipend is for play money. The experience is mutually beneficial and short-term.

Too bad, they didn't just regulate the conditions and stiffen rules for abuse. Increasing the pay would have cut us out of the program entirely.

[marble falls]

17. If you know what an "au pair" is and need one, you can afford to pay her a living wage ...

the fact they live in one's house shouldn't take up the bulk of the remuneration.

[LogicFirst]

20. From $800 a month

to $2,000 a month is a huge increase. I would pay the minimum wage, but cancel the room and board. Then subtract the R&B from the $2,000 a month at a FAIR rate. If they make minimum wage plus the R&B, that figures out to more than minimum wage.