If California Democrats have their way, hiring babysitters and nannies is soon going to get pretty complicated. It’s going to take more than a spoonful of sugar for this medicine to go down.
California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) has proposed legislation that would require any adult hired as a sitter to be paid at least minimum wage, but the bill would also require parents to “provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal breaks, in addition to workers’ compensation coverage, overtime pay, and a meticulously calculated timecard/paycheck.”
The bill has already passed the lower house of the California Legislature and is on its way through the Senate now. The only good news so far is that the Senate has stripped out the part about paid vacation days.
Doesn’t it seem as though this is going to discourage in-home care and force parents to use institutional daycare centers instead? Mary Poppins works alone, so this isn’t going to be good for her brilliant career. She’ll just have to stay out of California — and wherever else this bad idea spreads.