Shadow -

TRUE or FALSE:

1. Au pairs are not covered by Australia's wage regulation system.
2. Richard Di Natale paid his au pairs the going rate for a 25 hour week.
3. None of them have claimed they've been overworked or underpaid

Hi Aidan,

Spot-on ! Au pairs don't come under any award, so employers can pay them whatever they like, or nothing at all - which just goes to show Dr. di Natale's generosity.

And provided she can cram all of her duties into a 25-hour week, over seven days, say three and a half hours per day on child-minding, kitchen work, cleaning, etc., then she is not doing too bad on $ 150 - that's nearly $ 7 per hour for those 25 hours.

And au pairs must be having it pretty easy - otherwise, as you say, why aren't they complaining ?

Cheers,

Joe

Aidan, Loudmouth,

Here are the regulations that Dinner Tally ignored:

http://www.domesticpayroll.com.au/how-much-to-pay-your-nanny-per-hour/

1. At a minimum, the gross hourly rate for a nanny or au pair over 21 is $17.29 throughout Australia except for $17.52 in WA ( as at July 1 2014). This rate must be met, even for au pairs (unless it is a cultural exchange placement).

). The minimum hourly rates are reviewed each year July 1.

2. There is a general trend to a casualisation of the workforce and the definition of what a casual employee is, seems to be left deliberately vague. But the basic rule of thumb is an employee is casual, if there is no regular hours or promise of ongoing work.

There are advantages to hiring nannies as permanent employees, the main one being the ongoing employment works both ways and by hiring as a permanent employee your nanny is required to give notice on resignation.

3. Hiring a nanny as a casual, requires the casual loading of 25% through Australia except ( you guessed it) WA where the rate is 20% on top of the gross wage. This is replace the entitlement of annual and sick leave and paid public holidays.

4. Nannies on the whole prefer to be paid by the hour rather than on a set wage. This is due to a number factors, that there is no flexibility in their role on starting times and finishing times, the number of hours worked are usually quite long shifts and due to the nature of their role there is never a time when they are not working or on call.

5. Once your nanny works 30 hours or more a week, paying super becomes a statutory requirement. Superannuation is currently 9.5% of gross and will stay at that rate until 2021 and will then increase to 10%. Please note that if you have a fixed price that’s inclusive of super, once super is calculated the remaining balance has to meet the minimum hourly rates.

Hi SM,

Okay, points taken:

1. There IS an award covering au pairs, so much per hour yada yada;

2. They work long hours, irregular hours, seven days per week; if they employed as casuals, they are entitled to a 25 % loading;

3. They are entitled to super if they work more than 30 hours per week; and so on.

All that might be true, but clearly it's all built into what Dr. di Natale pays his au pair.

Jesus, crude satire is hard to keep up. Especially when reality trumps illusions. Especially when you start to suspect that people are taking you seriously.

Cheers,

Joe

LM,

For satire to work, it needs to be sufficiently different from when you are being serious.

Au pair wages are governed by the national minimum wages for casuals at $22/hr, and accommodation, if a requirement, of work cannot be deducted any more than your office space can be deducted from your salary. Meals could possible be deducted, but if prepared by someone else.

However you try to paint it, the reality is that Dinner Tally seriously underpaid his au pair, just as 7-11 underpaid their employees. What it does is destroys any credibility Dinner Tally had on this issue.

Hi SM,
I was vainly trying to impersonate a Greens supporter - I'm sorry, it won't happen again.

Cheers,

Joe