b'Louise Dunham This is a Fireside Chat, albeit I am by thefire on a cold Friday evening at 9 p.m. inMelbourne, Australia, at the bottom of theworld. And for you, its 7 a.m. Kathy Webb And I am by a lake in Pennsylvania on a hotsunny Saturday morning.Louise Dunham Remember where we met, 10 years ago, inSanFranciscoattheInternationalNannyAssociation annual conference? I think it isfair to say that we bonded over the searchfor a decent cup of tea. Kathy Webb (Chuckles) Louise Dunham andsimilaropinionsastowhyitwassohard for those in our profession, that is thenanny sector of the childcare industry, to Trade Centre. And for a period, New York aregratefulfortheirloyaltyasbothourbe taken seriously and for nannies to be nanniesweresuddenlyverymuch Labour Hire employed nannies and thepaid well and legally. We paced the San interestedinbeingpaidlegallybecause AgencyitselfwouldbenotsobuoyantFranciscanshorelineformilesseeking they saw what was happening. Those who without that loyalty.answers to both. were not being paid legally struggled, andat the same time saw that their peers who I think there\'s been a slow recognition fromSo, what I\'d like this chat to be about is were paid legally were okay.the nannies about how fantastic it is thatspecifically, how far have we come since they\'vebeenworkingandhavejobthatchatinMay2010?Andwhatisthe Louise Dunhamcontinuity. But we had a few grumblings,nanny world going to look like post COVID? And how quickly they forgot. such as, Why should I work at all? I will justtake the $1,500 dollars thanks and then I\'llKathy WebbKathy Webbgo and get a cash-in-hand job." No, youIthinkthatthepeoplewhoworkinthe Yes, they did. won\'tthetaxationdepartmentisveryindustry, for at least a period of time, are explicit about that. You get one lot of tax-going to be much more cognizant of the Louise Dunhamfree threshold. And if you go off and do abenefitsofbeingpaidlegallybecausethose that were paid legally were able to Okay, I had forgotten, or certainly I hadn\'t job, cash-in-hand, you\'re still breaking theaccess their unemployment benefits. They forgotten about 9/11, but I hadn\'t thought law. But I think there\'s more understandingcould also pay their rent and buy their food thattheimpactwouldbeclosesttoa abouttheintegrityandappreciationofandstayhomewhentheorderswereto pandemic. With nannies here, it\'s a similar doing the right thing. I am also touched bystay home without fear of not being able to story.I\'veseenboththroughourpayroll the loyalty of many of our nannies to theireat. Whereas those that were paid off the firm and the nanny firm, the panic that has vulnerable clients and to the Agency.books very much struggled. I was hearing hitparents,Shouldweonlyhaveonestories saying things like, "I\'m still going into nanny in the home? Should we keep paying Postscript since this conversation, we havework because I can\'t make my ends meet if our nanny even though she is not currently goneintostage4lockdownhereinI don\'t." This happened before, too, after working for us? Some clients have been Melbourne,andfamiliescanonlyhave9/11 in the New York area.very generous, and some said, "No, you\'re a nanniestheyemployandtheymustbecasual worker, off you go. We don\'t want to either vulnerable or a permitted worker.Louise Dunhamsee you again till it\'s all over. I owe you Thereforeanyonewithacash-in-handReally? nothing." nanny runs the risk of breaking the law, andthe nanny can be fined up to $19,000 if sheKathy WebbWhat we call "cash in hand" and you call does not have a valid reason or permissionYes,alotofnannyemployment "under the table" is just disappearing. And I to be going to work.disappeared, as many of those who were thinkit\'sfairtosaythatwehavehademploying nannies moved out of the city conversations with our job-keeper nannies Of course, I recognize it could go the otherright away for a period. There was a lot of that are receiving a government payment. waypost-COVID,withpeoplesaying,Idisruption to housing because of the World They are grateful for the assistance and we need childcare, but I can\'t afford to pay 10WINTER 2020|NannyMag.com'