Work Agreement between families and nannies

Nannying Nannies in Montgomery County (Maryland)
by Marc Fisher on Washingtonpost.com

Montgomery County, which takes pride in being on the cutting edge of government regulation, yesterday became probably the first jurisdiction in the land to require residents who hire nannies to do so via a written contract.

The move by the government that brought you bans on trans-fats, smoking and any sales of liquor except by the county's own stores has the usual do-gooder genesis, a reflection of the fact that many domestic workers are taken advantage of by employers. After all, since many nannies are illegal immigrants, it's easy for employers to set onerous working conditions and get away with substandard treatment of their workers.

The passage of this bill--which requires residents to provide live-in help with a separate room for sleeping and "reasonable access" to a bathroom, kitchen and laundry room--is a tribute to the nannies who banded together to seek help from their government. But while it's true that many nannies are poorly paid, get little or nothing in the way of health coverage, and are required to work hours that wouldn't be allowed if they were covered by federal labor law (they are not), it's also true that conditions for domestic workers in Montgomery County are considerably better than in many other places.

Despite the unanimous vote in support of the nanny bill in the County Council, this has all the markings of a classic MoCo decision to make law as a political statement rather than as a remedy to a burning social need. The study commissioned by the county to look into the plight of domestic workers actually found that a remarkable 87 percent of county nannies ranked their employer in the top half of the ratings scale offered by the George Washington University investigators who conducted the survey. Only 38 percent said they had health insurance, and 75 percent of live-in workers said they did not receive overtime pay. But the fact is that in the world of nannies, Montgomery County is an unusually good workplace. Indeed, IRS figures show that MoCo has the highest compliance rate with the federal nanny tax of any jurisdiction in the nation. (This is perhaps the result of the secret wish or expectation harbored by all those lawyers who live in MoCo that they might someday miraculously be nominated to the Supreme Court, at which point their failure to have paid their nanny tax would be the most ignominious exit from possible glory.)

Earlier in the debate on this bill, the council was more divided. Council member Duchy Trachtenberg faced off against one of the nanny bill's sponsors, George Leventhal, on WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi Show, with Trachtenberg arguing that the nanny bill was well-intentioned but useless because it would actually "dissuade people from employing people who don't have legal status" and would "jeopardize workers by bringing up their immigration status."

The bill as passed doesn't mention immigration status and MoCo lawmakers want to stay far away from the illegal immigration debate. But Trachtenberg, who later came to support the measure, was right to have raised the concern: If the county wants to be supportive of illegal immigrants, or at least doesn't want to join Prince William County in overtly fighting against their presence, then requiring residents to put into writing their relationship with illegal domestic workers is hardly a way to encourage a don't ask-don't tell approach.

More important, this latest expression of MoCo's nanny reflex is another case of overreach. Domestic workers were excluded from federal labor law for a reason; there ought to be in any society some less formal work relationships that enable newcomers and other strivers to shape their lives in ways that standard rules of employment might not allow. So whether that means working odd hours or taking your own children along with you to work or arranging to live in a community you could otherwise never afford, there are benefits to domestic work that some people choose to embrace. Obviously, those arrangements ought not give employers permission to abuse workers in any way, but the natural remedy to those unfortunate situations is to quit and find other work. Both federal and state laws spell out a variety of rules governing domestic workers; indeed, Maryland law offers nannies the protections of the minimum wage and workers compensation.

Everyone knows there are domestic workers who are abused and who cannot come close to minimum wage, but that is an enforcement issue. I've never employed any domestic worker nor do I generally believe in the idea, but passing new laws that make it harder to hire domestic workers is not a symbolic statement of MoCo's righteousness. It is, rather, yet another example of Montgomery County acting as a world unto itself--its nanny bill is no more likely to be enforced than those state laws that seek to protect domestic workers, and the MoCo bill only adds a level of fear and discouragement to a relationship that has endured for centuries, in many cases without abuse.

My Response Posted at Washingtonpost.com


As Vice-President of Nanny Poppinz Corporate, Inc,. a nationwide nanny referral service that takes care of both families and nannies with extraordinary customer service, I applaud this action. Nanny Poppinz recommends work agreements and feel they benefit both parties equally by setting out expectations, pay, vacation, days off, schedule, job duties, overtime payment agreements, etc. Families benefit by having their job position clearly defined and boundaries kept. They also benefit by having a happy nanny and at Nanny Poppinz we believe that a happy nanny makes for a happy family. The family will be less likely to have a high turnover of child care providers in their children's lives and this is a benefit becaus children get attached quickly. Nannies benefit by being compensated for extra hours or work. We have many nannie that do not mind helping the families with "extra" work or time as long as they are compensated. At Nanny Poppinz, we feel so strongly that having a work agreement is such a good practice that we have a clause in our contract with the parents that if a work agreement is not done between the family and the nanny and sent back to us within three days of hiring a nanny that the contract between the family and our agency is null and void.

Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Later Illnesses

The White House Office of National Drug Control policy found that self-medication especially for depression raises the risk of mental problems. Although fewer teens are using marijuana, there is growing concern that those who view smoking marijuana as a way to cope with depression do not understand its consequences. It is also not clear whether their parents who might have used themselves when they were younger understand the risks associated with usage. The risk of developing mental illnesses later in life go up by as much as 40% among users of marijuana in their teenage years. Teenage girls are especially at risk and are more likely to develop depression than those who do not use marijuana. Teenagers who smoke marijuana at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-users. Depressed teenagers are more likely than depressed adults to seek solace in marijuana or other illicit drugs. Too often teens do not seek treatment for their depression, choosing instead to seek relief by smoking marijuana. They do not realize that this can make their problem worse and can set them up for serious health consequences. Minority youths are also likely to seek relief for depression through drugs due in part to the social stigma some cultures attach to mental health problems. They do not want to go to their parents or pastor so they turn to drugs. Nationwide about 2 million teenagers report having felt depressed or having lost interest in daily activities during the past year. Too often parents and teens downplay marijuana's impact because they see it as les harmful than other drugs, such as cocaine.

Contributing to the risk is the higher potency today compared with marijuana in the 1970's. Since the 1980s the potency has doubled. Despite a drop in usage among teenagers, those who are using are becoming more dependent on it. About 60% of first-time users are under the age of 18. Far more teens are in treatment for dependency on marijuana than alcohol. Marijuana is thought of as the least dangerous of illicit drugs but we can see now that this is simply not true. I hope this blog educates parents so that they can educate their teens.

New video game great to play with your kids

Steven Spielberg has created a video game called Boom Blox for the Wii game system where players use the conroller to fling things at towers and fortresses made of toy blocks. Boom Blox is the first of three games from Spielberg. It is a family-friendly game centered around the low-key destructive kicks that come from knocking down toy fortresses and towers made out of toy blocks. To play, a user points the Wiis controller at the screen and makes flinging motions with his/her arm to wreak some G-rated havoc with the game's virtual baseballs or other projectiles. What's nice about this game is two things: one there are not too many titles that you can play with your young children and two there is no greater joy on a child's face then when he is destroying and knocking down blocks he/she has set up in a big stack. And to be able to do this with your parents and enjoy it with them? Priceless. Our kids have a natural knack for destruction :o) so this game allows them to enjoy this in a safe manner (safe for you, the siblings, and the house). This game will cut down on fights between siblings. How many of us have had one child come crying to us because they spent tons of time working an a creation only to have a sibling walk by and knock it down? Spielberg created this game to address "the abyss between him and his kids" when it came to video games. He wanted a game he could play with them. I am glad Spielberg created a game to connect us more with our children.

Teaching to the test limits children

The No Child Left Behind Act of the Bush administration makes teachers focus on reading and math to the exclusion of science. Science test scores are NOT used to grade schools under this Act; therefore, the subject gets neglected in the classroom, especially at the elementary school level where all subjects are taught and must compete for time. Prinicipals instruct teachers to stop teaching science for the year and just concentrate on numeracy ad literacy because that's what's being tested. What a disservice to our children! A well-rounded education should be our goal. Teaching to the test has always robbed our children of a valuable education. Stop the madness. Repeal No Child Left Behind or at the very least add other criteria to make teachers cover more subjects. We wonder why we lag behind other countries in science fields?

Girls are Harder to Raise than Boys

Absolutely the answer is that a daughter is more difficult to raise. I have two sons, ages 18 and 19, and one daughter, age 17. The reason I answer this 100% a daughter is more difficult to raise is because of all the grey hairs my daughter has given me along with the ulcers, sleepless nights, anxiety, etc. My sons haven't brought those wonderful things to my life for the most part. Let me explain. It is about worry. I worry that my daughter will be preyed upon by a man in a violent and/or sexual way. Statistics bear out the fact that hundreds of women are vicitmized at the hands of men, known and unknown to them, sometimes even losing their lives. I don't have to worry about my sons in this regard. One is becoming a Marine officer and the other weight-lifts for enjoyment. They can obviously take care of themselves. I have watched too many true crime TV shows (maybe I should stop huh?) to not worry because each and every case I see, the young lady through no fault of her own winds up on the wrong end of foul play. It is statistically more likely that my daughter will not make it to adulthood than my sons. You get the point and to a parent this is unacceptable. I am supposed to out live all my children. Secondly, the sexual thing and pregnancy. Again girls have much more to risk and much more to lose in the event of an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. Girls are much tougher. We have to worry what the boys are pressuring the girls to do and what is going on at school. Girls younger and younger are becoming sexually active. They are mere children even as younhg as middle school when they lose their virginity. You can teach your little girl to not give in to peer pressure but it is a difficult chanllenge when she is still in middle school and all her classmates and friends have already lost their purity. Anyone still think boys are more difficult? Then you have to agonize over the decision to put your baby girl on birth control and condone behavior you don't condone verusu becoming a grandmother much too soon. (and Juno didn't help matters. I saw that movie with my daughter who loved it and said as a junior in high school that that movie made her want to have a baby!) Boys harder???? No way. I will only concede one point that too many mothers who have young sons they have lost in iraq and Afghanistan can attest to that losing a son even in a glorified manner still leaves a gaping whole inside you and in your life and in this way sons are more difficult. That is my worry for my oldest son who has chosen a noble profession to serve his country as a Marine. I, however, do not want him to come home in a body bag. So on that one point I concede but now with women becoming medics in the midst of insurgency type warfare it is plausible I could lose my daughter this way. With all things considered I think girls are more difficult. What do you think?