Well, as California's budget woes continue on, at least the legislators are paying attention to the really important matters that will save the state from fiscal insolvency. Oh, wait. No, they're not. They're busy passing bills that, if enacted into law, will provide "protections" for babysitters. I s*** you not.According to something called The Union, Assembly Bill 889, which is the brainchild of
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-umbass, San Francisco, will "...provide workers' compensation benefits, rest and meal breaks and paid vacation time" for babysitters, nannies, housekeepers and caregivers. Wait. What now?! "Under AB 889, household “employers” (aka “parents”) who hire a babysitter on a Friday night will be legally obligated to pay at least minimum wage to any sitter over the age of 18 (unless it is a family member), 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."
Could someone please explain to me HOW this is supposed to work?! Let's say that I hire a babysitter for my fictional children (who are adorable angels, by the way). Let's say that I am going to be gone for six hours. It doesn't matter what I'm doing. (I don't do a lot normally, so really, I'm just glad to be out for a while.) Does that mean that I am going to have to hire TWO babysitters? One for the regular babysitting and one to man the fort while the other regular babysitter gets to "rest" and have a "meal break"? Has the person who authored this bill have any idea what babysitting actually entails?! There's not a lot of room for things OTHER than rest and eating. Especially after my adorable fictional children go to bed! They're sleeping! And they never get up for water or anything like that. The babysitter doesn't need to REST! And what is this about workers' comp? How does that work? Do I have to take it out of their pay? What do I do with it afterward? Who do they file a claim with (if they dare)? Then what?! Have I mentioned that they're a freaking babysitter?! I have? GOOD!
This is one of the more asinine things that I have heard recently. And believe me, there's stupidity flying around this state like you would not believe. And of course, the bill has already flown straight through the Assembly and is working its way through the state Senate. (I should mention that the bill has made it as far as it has without ANY support from ANY Republicans. That's the problem with having a state with only one party in power. They get to do all of the stupid crap that they want to and there isn't anything to other party can do about it because there aren't enough of them.) It's only a matter of time before it ends up on Governor Moonbeam's desk for his signature to enact it into law. And then I'm sure that someone will already be hard at work on the next asinine thing that they think needs to be monitored and controlled by the state. Just wait for it. It will come. Sooner than I'd like.
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