Sunday, June 24, 2007

Nanny more vacation than her employer?

To a European employment lawyer the list of demands of domestic workers in the bill of rights sounds completely reasonable: paid vacation days, severance payment at termination, sick days, etc. However, when I think more about the general legal climate with regard to employment in this country, it seems more complicated. Most employees simply do not have much protection or job security in the US. Why would domestic workers be entitled to more than the average employee? An article in the Village Voice:

"Why should domestic workers get twice the minimum wage?" asked one mother on urbanbaby.com's chat board. Another mom wrote that the bill was "absurd," considering that "most of us don't even get three weeks of vacation. My nanny should get four?"

It is argued that domestic workers deserve a better position because of their vulnerable and easily exploitable position. That makes sense, but I really wonder how twice the minimum wage will be accepted. I invite the ones who know more about this issue to explain to me how they think this will be justified, also from a legal perspective (since I am not a US attorney)


legal protection nannies

2 comments:

Nicole Orriëns said...

Hallo Sanne,

ik kwam toevallig op je blog Motherland terecht. Ik mail je even via dit blog, want kon je adres verder niet vinden.

Zou je tijd en interesse hebben om mee te werken aan een interview via email voor website Het Moederfront, http://www.hetmoederfront.nl? In de rubriek Tbm in het buitenland laten we moeders aan het woord die in het buitenland wonen.

We hebben nog niemand uit New York, dus dat zou erg leuk zijn.

Veel succes in ieder geval met je blog!

vriendelijke groet,
Nicole Orriëns
http://www.hetmoederfront.nl
http://www.berichtenvanhetmoederfront.blogspot.com

Helly said...

I can understand why some employers get upset about what they see as excessive vacation time. On the other hand, most DH's are working 6-7 days per week, it is not that much vacation compared to a person who works a 5-day week. This issue came up as well in the Philippines - the Senate is considering a bill to require paid vacation leave for domestic helpers, and people are upset that the protection might exceed the benefits of some employers.