Her mind was itching to read the contract so she head straight to the bed and breakfast where she was staying, she quickly took a shower, put on some sweats and jumped on the bed. The first paper in the stack of papers was the schedule she’d have to follow.
Monday
07:00 Start working
07:30 Leave for school
08:00 school starts
09:00 Ava dance class
15:00 School out
16:00 Homework
17:30 Equestrian and tennis
20:00 Dinner
Tuesday
07:00 Start working
07:30 Leave for school
08:00 school starts
09:00 Ava English class
12:00 Ava swimming lessons
15:00 School out
16:00 Homework
20:00 Dinner
Wednesday
07:00 Start working
07:30 Leave for school
08:00 school starts
09:00 Ava dance class
15:00 School out
16:00 Homework
17:30 Polo and tennis
20:00 Dinner
Thursdays
07:00 Start working
07:30 Leave for school
08:00 school starts
09:00 Ava French class
12:00 Ava swimming lessons
15:00 School out
16:00 Homework
17:30 Horse grooming
20:00 Dinner
Friday
07:00 Start working
07:30 Leave for school
08:00 school starts
09:00 Ava Spanish class
15:00 School out
16:00 Homework
17:30 Polo match
20:00 Dinner
Saturday
08:00 start working
16:00 Tennis match
Sundays
On standby
17:30 Polo match
Mila had looked the schedule over thoroughly…a couple of times, there was a few areas that seemed to create an anomaly for her, what kind of 3-year-old has English, French and Spanish. The other major thing that bothered her being that the kids hardly had time for themselves. It’s a very strict schedule. She put the schedule down and took out the contract, time to get down to business.
Employment contract
Position: Au pair nanny
This contract is a lawful agreement between Sebastian Valdez, the employer and Mila Davis, the employee. All information mentioned in this document will give a detailed account of the position offered and accepted by the above-mentioned employee. This is a lawfully binding document that comes into full affect from date it is signed for an undefined period.
Confidentiality
Any and all information on the employer or his dependents and employees are confidential and may not be disclosed to any third party, this can and will be prosecuted in a court of law.
Role/expectations
The employee is expected to be an au pair nanny to three children. This job entails the employee to be available at all times during the day to cater to the children’s needs, this is done by following a strict schedule and seeing to their basic needs.
Job responsibility
Dependents that employee will be responsible for:
Ava Valdez
3 years old
Matthew Valdez
11 years old
Alexis Valdez
17 years old
Work schedule
The work schedule will be as mentioned below with some change according to the children’s schedule. Monday – Friday: Begin: 7:00 am
End: 19:00 pm.
If the employee joins the children for dinner she will be compensated till dinner is done. In that case your hours will be:
Monday – Friday: Begin 7:00 am
End: 21:00 pm
As for weekends the employee will be expected to work, unless it is arranged differently two weeks in advance
Saturdays:
Begin: 8:00 am
End: 18:00 pm
Sundays:
Employee must be on standby for assistance if needed.
Employee compensation
Compensation to the employee will be as follow:
$15/hour for: 12-14 hours will be paid for the youngest child as it is a full day’s care
$5/hour
for: 12-14 hours will be paid for the other two children as it is half day care
Total compensation/hour is approximately: $25/hour
Total compensation/day is approximately between: $300 - $350
Saturdays work will be compensated at the same tariff as weekdays, Sundays will be double the tariff compensation
The employee will be expected to work all the holidays and will be compensated as double time.
Monday – Saturday total compensation/week is approximately between: $1800 - $2100
Total compensation/month is approximately between: $7200 - $8400
Paid time off
The employee will receive the following half paid time off if it is arranged two weeks beforehand.
21 vacation days/years
Benefits
Free bed and board
Food included
Uniform allowance once off p*****t of $1000
Access to all luxuries on property.
Car and gas allowance
Yearly pay increases
Clothing allowance for special events
Rules
Breaking the rules that is noted below will result in an immediate termination of employment. A variety of rules might not be in play to the particular situation.
1. You are to start at 7:00 am, this said you need to report at 6:45 am at the latest for duty.
1. The children will under no circumstances be late for school. School starts at 8:00 am. The kids must arrive at 7:45 at the latest. Attendance is a must they are not to be marked absence without a specialist permission eg. A Doctor.
2.The children grades must be above average at all times any deviation will be seen as a fault on your ability to manage the children.
3.The children has multiple activities they attend to after school, they are not to be late and must attend every team effort, practice and tournament.
4.The children must be observed with the tutors once an hour to ensure that the lessons are going as plan.
5.Homework must be completed in time as the children’s time is limited.
6.Any and all calls from school goes through me, my time is of importance if I feel that the call was created by your incompetence or inability to manage the kids your services will be terminated.
7.All arrangements with schools, coaches and tutors are arranged through me via email, if there are any changes you’ll be notified immediately.
8.There will be no fraternization between staff, this include tutors, coaches and school staff.
You are not allowed to bring any guest onto my private property they will be prosecutes as trespassers
9.You are to be reached at any time without any problems.
10.You are to be a confidant to the children, support them and encourage them.
11.The children follows a strict healthy diet and is allowed a certain amount of sugar that will not be exceeded, only on certain occasion will it be allowed
The following rules will be child specific.
Ava: is very quiet, she has an introvert personality. Once she becomes use to you, you will become a person she will latch onto. She is in an influential stage of her life which means everything you do will have an impression on her.
She is currently taking swim lessons to ensure her protection whenever she is in an area that has water: Lake or pool at home, pool at the polo and tennis club or when at the ocean. She also has English, Spanish and French lesson which focuses on the basic that a 3 year old should know, and to improve pronunciation. Her last activity is dance, she has only preformed once, but in this time the teacher isn’t focusing on choreography, but flexibility and direction.
1.Ava is not to be left alone, with exception of when she is sleeping and only then. She is not allowed to be alone with any tutors.
2.You’re are expected to be in the pool whilst the swimming lessons take place to ensure that you are also trained on possible situations that might take place eg. Possible drowning taking place.
3.Ava has a separate schedule that focuses on every hour of the day that wasn’t specified on the overall schedule. This schedule must be followed as a routine must be established
Matthew: is going through a transition where he is testing his boundaries, which means that he must be under strict supervision, he is under no circumstance to deviate from his schedule. Tennis was approached as a way for him to work out his pent-up energy. He is brilliant, but does tend to slack with his schoolwork. He is also smart in evading situation.
1.Keep a close eye on him.
2.Make specifically sure that his homework is done and that his full attention is on his tutoring sessions
Alexis: is headstrong and she puts all her focus into her polo practices and matches. She is at an age where she has to consider everything that she does as part of her future. She is a very strong-willed lady that wishes to do everything for herself
1.Lend a hand where ever possible and support her in all her ventures.
2.Encourage extra activities
3.Make sure to observe her marks and keeping her updated on early colleges admissions, tours and chances for improvement.
4.Make sure her polo equipment is clean and to standard. You are not expected to be at matches, but you must attend every practice session.
Lastly make sure that the children’s health and hygiene is taken care of. Beauty appointments are scheduled yearly make sure not to miss any of them and if it happens that because of scheduling problems make sure to reschedule.
Agreement
The employer and employee agree to hereby be fully bounded by the terms laid out in this contract of employment
Employer signature: __________
Employee signature: __________
Date: __________
The contract seemed simple enough and very detailed making sure the information is received by the reader. The job does offer great opportunities and wonderful benefits, but the rules are extreme, they do not cater for any distraction or accidents, it limits you quite a lot. Some things just happen and they are out of everyone’s control, there could be traffic jams, bad weather, spillage accidents. It’s a bridge they’ll cross when they get there. Mila took out her pen and paper and started writing to Juan
My only
I have great news. I have finally taken the leap. I have moved out here to California like we always talked about. Now we can see more of one another. Now there will be no unnecessarily stress about spliting your time between all of us and putting time aside to travel. This might be one of the best things we could have done for our relationship. Honestly I can’t describe how much I’ve been missing you. I long for the old days when we were still young and our only worry was getting over to each others houses. I used all my saving to fly over to California and to book a night in a bed and breakfast. The agency got me a wonderful opportunity to interview with a very influential family. I am not allowed to talk about them so I will not be mentioning names. Just know this family is on a different scale of what I have experienced. The house I will be living at takes up an entire hilltop. It has a view of Santa Barbara and the ocean. I’m afraid of actually getting lost in the house and on the premises. I think this will be a challenge for me since the kids ages are far apart with the youngest only being a toddler, but I never turn away from a challenge. I feel like I can help make that house a home. My boss is very stiff and impersonal. It will take some time getting use to it. Tomorrow will be my first day. I haven’t met the children yet, but I’m sure I will like them. Everything will be worth it in the end. I wish I could tell you all this in person. I long for your voice and your touch. It feels like I haven’t seen you in years. Every time I see you again it feels like our first kiss, our first touch and our first time. In some ways it makes the wait worth it and in other it makes the wait agonizing. Maybe once I have settled and have build up my savings again we can look into getting a place for the two of us. Our first place together. Then when you have leave you can say that you are going home and your parents will have a place to visit. Anyway I need to end this letter now and get a good nights sleep for tomorrow.
Yours always Mila