Federal Judge Rules Au Pair Wage Case Should Go Ahead

DENVER (AP) — A case should go ahead against companies that provide au pairs to families across the country, a federal judge said in an opinion that noted evidence from the plaintiffs that the companies cooperated to keep wages low.

The defendants are all 15 of the companies authorized by the U.S. State Department to arrange for young foreigners to stay mekong delta tour with homestay Americans and look after their children. The companies were sued by a group of au pairs who say they were unlawfully denied the minimum wage, overtime and other compensation.

In an opinion issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello agreed mekong delta tour with homestay an earlier magistrate's ruling in Colorado that the companies, which had sought to have the au pairs' claims summarily dismissed, had a case to answer.

Tom Areton, whose nonprofit California-based Cultural mekong delta tour with homestay International is among the defendants, said au pairs should not be seen as professionals protected by labor law. Many of the au pair websites, though, stress the visitors' child care experience and refer to them as nannies.

"These are young girls who want to come, experience the culture, maybe improve their English," he said in a telephone interview.

Arguello said the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes wage, overtime and other rules, did apply to the case. She also noted that the au pairs had gathered evidence showing several company officials had agreed among themselves to keep payments to each au pair at $195.75 a week, or less than $5 an hour.