Dear au pair host families,

Matahari Women Workers’ Center (“Matahari”) is a Boston-based organization committed to building a world without economic violence and exploitation. Our community believes in the transformative power of survivors and is committed to developing the leadership of women of color, immigrants, and low-wage workers.

Since the December 2nd, 2019 U.S. First Circuit Court decision, which affirmed that au pairs are entitled to the same labor protections as other domestic workers in Massachusetts, our community has rejoiced and fielded numerous questions, complaints, and attacks. We recognize the work to create a child care system that works for all is far from over. Matahari’s au pair member-leaders and organizers created this document to answer the commonly asked questions we have received in decade of organizing around this issue, as well as the targeted questions we have received since the ruling. With it, we hope to bridge and inform the conversation between the various stakeholders.

The cost of childcare in our state is among the most expensive in the country, and Matahari is among the many organizations exploring creative, quality, affordable, and just options for working families. For decades, au pairs in the U.S. have existed in a grey area between exchange students and labor force, and the program’s parameters have unfortunately lent to abuse and exploitation. We call on families, caregivers, and community partners to join the fight for sustainable and equitable solutions to the childcare crisis in our state.

Regards,

Monique Tú Nguyen
Executive Director
Matahari Women Workers’ Center

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

WHAT IS MATAHARI’S HISTORY OF WORKING WITH AU PAIRS, NANNIES, AND OTHER DOMESTIC WORKERS?
Founded in 2002, Matahari organizes women working in historically low wage sectors, specifically domestic workers, including au pairs, nannies, adult caregivers, and house cleaners. These are the workers who make all other work possible. They care for families’ children, elderly relatives, and homes to free up others to enter the workforce and pursue their careers. Matahari has actively organized au pairs for nearly ten years.
IS THE MA DoMESTIC WORKERS’ BILL OF RIGHTS/LAW A NEW LAW?
No. The MA Domestic Workers’ Law was passed in 2014 and came into effect in 2015. Au pairs have been entitled to protections under these laws since then. This is not a new law and in fact, sponsor agencies have had five years to let families know what is happening and alert them to possible changes in host family requirements. Sponsor agencies have had years to work with au pairs, families, and other stakeholders to create a program that is compliant with state labor laws and affordable to families. Instead, they attempted to remove au pairs from the law’s protections. In the latest effort to stall their compliance with the law, Cultural Care Au Pair filed an appeal with the US First Circuit Court. A decision was issued on December 2, 2019 that affirmed that au pairs are entitled to the same rights as all other domestic workers.
Why should au pairs receive minimum wage if they receive room and board?
Legally, room and board cannot be deducted if a worker is required to live where they work - as au pairs currently are required by the au pair program. While the live-in arrangement can benefit au pairs, it also serves many host families' needs, because it provides them with in-home, flexible child care that is available on-site when needed. Under state law, host families can deduct up to a certain amount per week for room and board as long as these options are freely chosen by au pairs.
Does Matahari understand that families depend on the au pair program for child care?
Yes!
We understand that there is a child care affordability crisis in Massachusetts (and beyond). We are among the many organizations working to address this problem. We are proud members of the Care That Works Campaign and other efforts to explore creative, quality, affordable, and just child care options for working families in the state. There is no simple solution to this crisis, but we believe everyone will agree that creating a child care program that requires primarily young women from other countries to work for sub-minimum wages is not the answer.
As we join with other organizations to fight for longer-term solutions, we hope that there can be short-term solutions to ease the financial burden on host families that do not come at the expense of au pairs. The au pair program has many costs, particularly the upfront program fee of up to $10,000 that host families pay to the sponsor agencies -- almost as much as the families pay to the au pairs themselves.The sponsor agencies are largely for-profit businesses and, in some cases are part of multinational corporations. These sponsor agencies profit both from the fees paid by families and au pairs. We hope that all stakeholders, including sponsor agencies, can be part of the conversation about making the program more affordable, while still compliant with the law.
Isn't this a cultural exchange program?
When this program was formed decades ago, its original intent may have been to be a cultural exchange, with au pairs serving not as full-time child care providers, but as “mothers’ helpers” for stay-at-home mothers. Over time, between the increased demand for affordable childcare due to the lack of investment in childcare (and other benefits such as parental leave) from the government and families’ workplaces, rising living costs, stagnant wages, spotty government regulation and questionable business practices of au pair agencies, the program has transformed into a full-fledged labor program — as the U.S. Department of State itself has acknowledged.

Are there components of the program that truly promote an exchange of cultures and languages? Absolutely. At the end of the day, however, au pairs are required to provide up to 45 hours per week of child care, often to multiple children. This is work and inherently transforms the program into a labor program, regardless of original program intentions.
What do we hear from au pairs?
We frequently hear from current and former au pairs. While we know that many au pairs have very positive experiences, we often hear from au pairs who are exploited, do not receive the protections to which they are entitled under program rules or the law, and do not get the support they need from their sponsor agencies. To learn more about common grievances we hear from au pairs and more about our structural critique of the program, please check out a report to which we contributed: Shortchanged: the Big Business Behind the Low Wage J-1 Au Pair Program, put out by the International Human Rights Law Clinic and other national organizations. Below is a sample of complaints that we hear from au pairs in their workplaces (the homes of their host families):
Matahari takes our leadership from a committee of current and former au pairs who want to improve the program and have created a list of over 20 recommendations to au pair agencies and the U.S. State Department, including compliance with the MA Domestic Workers’ Law. We have been meeting with Cultural Care Au Pair since July 2019 to share these recommendations and to discuss possible improvements.
HOST FAMILIES ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.
Principally, we believe that au pairs and host families do not receive sufficient support or guidance from sponsor agencies. We know that many host families are caring and respectful. Many go above and beyond what the program requires of them. As wonderful as these families are, we encounter far too many violations of au pairs’ basic rights. Furthermore, these “above and beyond” benefits are not guaranteed, so while some au pairs may receive them, others do not.
Matahari calls on sponsor agencies to improve their support systems to au pairs who encounter program or legal violations. We have encountered a number of situations in which a host family has repeatedly broken program rules with consecutive au pairs - violations that range from sexual assault to a failure to provide sufficient food. Despite a record of au pairs reporting their concerns about such families, agencies fail to remove these families from the program. Agencies ultimately benefit financially when families remain repeat customers and so have little incentive to remove families from the program.
Does Matahari only care about nannies?
No. Matahari organizes different sectors of women workers, including nannies, au pairs, adult caregivers, and house cleaners. We know that child care work - whether as an au pair, nanny, or daycare provider - is real and important work, and that these workers deserve not only legal but living wages. We have received comments that this new decision hurts working mothers. Nannies and other domestic workers are also working mothers who have careers that are important and families to support. We will continue to organize for child care solutions that work for all working parents.
I’M A CURRENT OR FORMER HOST FAMILY AND I WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH MATAHARI TO ADVOCATE FOR EXPLOITATION-FREE CHILDCARE SOLUTIONS!

Name

First Name

Last Name

Subject

Message

I am...

Au pair (current/former)

Host family (current/former)

Other domestic worker (current/former)

Other (please specify in message)

Working during the pandemic?

Fact Sheet/s: English, Español, Português

NOTICE FROM THE MA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE:

“On December 2, 2019, a federal appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Cultural Care Au Pair. This court decision confirmed what the Attorney General’s Office told Cultural Care in 2015: au pairs are domestic workers protected by the Massachusetts minimum wage, overtime, and Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (DWBOR) laws.

The Attorney General’s Office understands that host families and au pairs may be learning about these legal obligations for the first time. The Attorney General’s Office is focused on ensuring that Cultural Care and other au pair agencies bring their programs promptly into compliance with Massachusetts law. We also believe that the agencies must implement a solution for the increased costs and regulatory obligations facing host families with au pairs. In order to provide time for that to happen, the Attorney General’s Office does not intend to enforce the DWBOR or other wage and hour laws against host families at this time, although our office does not have control over private litigation.

If you have questions about the court decision or your obligations under Massachusetts law, you should contact your au pair agency. Further resources about the DWBOR law are available on this webpage or you may call the AG’s Fair Labor Hotline at 617-727-3465.”