 Most nannies and their employers work and are paid on a set weekly schedule; however, from time to time the family will require additional hours from their nanny. Legally, nannies are entitled to additional compensation for additional hours worked, and live out nannies, at a minimum, are entitled to the overtime differential (1.5 times the hourly rate) for hours worked over 40 in a work week. In New York, Domestic Workers United (an in-home caregivers advocacy group) recently established a help line for nannies, housekeepers, and their employers to explain New York's labor laws surrounding overtime for household employees. In California, affiliated worker advocacy groups have been actively organizing and educating their constituencies about California labor laws for in-home caregivers. Many employers, accustomed to being exempt, salaried workers professionally, neglect to pay their nanny or housekeeper accrued overtime. This is a risky proposition for the family. The convergence of Federal and State wage and hour enforcement efforts (an Obama administration priority), and the well organized educational outreach efforts of DWU and it's affiliates, raise the risk to the household employer that a disgruntled employee will file a Wage and Hour grievance. The consequences include awards of back pay, penalties, interest and attorney's fees. Families are advised to side step these risks and follow best practices that include: - Have a written compensation agreement with their household employees that includes wages stated in hourly rate terms.
- Maintain accurate and contemporaneous time tracking records.
- Track and include overtime hours in the periodic payroll.
- Provide the employee with documentation of the periodic payroll calculation, including weekly hours worked, hours paid at the regular rate, hours paid at the overtime rate as well as applicable tax deductions. This is legally required in some circumstances! HWS clients who have any questions about their employee's payroll and time tracking are invited to call their representative to discuss their specific circumstances and best practices.
* Many states have customized overtime payment schemes - know your state's rules or call your HWS account representative to discuss your situation. Source: Kathy Webb www.4nannytaxes.comhttp://www.MartaPerrone.com
 In today’s world, fluency in more than one language is becoming more and more essential. From communicating with the people around us to success in the job market, there are dozens of reasons why it’s a strong investment in your child’s future. For parents considering Spanish as a second language for their child, here are ten reasons to follow through. - Commonality – Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the United States, making it one of the most useful second-language choices for American children. As children get older, the likelihood of a communication barrier with Spanish-speaking coworkers and neighbors will grow exponentially if they don’t have some degree of fluency.
- To Improve Fluency in Their First Language – Studies have shown that learning to speak a second language actually improves vocabulary, reading comprehension and written skills in your native tongue as well.
- Creating Travel Opportunities – Spanish is spoken on every continent of the world and is the official language of the United Nations. Should your child choose to study abroad or to travel extensively, their experience will be greatly enhanced by being able to confidently and comfortably speak Spanish.
- University Admissions – Foreign language classes are a very stringent requirement for some colleges and universities; beginning to learn Spanish during childhood will make those high school Spanish classes much easier. Those high marks in high school Spanish are likely to make quite the difference on college applications.
- Employment Opportunities – By the time today’s children enter the workforce, the ability to speak Spanish fluently will greatly improve their resume and employment opportunities. Recruiters and hiring managers already understand that the need for bilingual English and Spanish speaking employees has grown; within a decade, demand for workers who speak both languages is likely to increase even further.
- Reducing the Chance of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Later in Life – Studies have shown that people who speak more than one language are less likely to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s than their single language peers.
- Accessibility – The similar sentence structure, straightforward pronunciation and number of cognates make Spanish an accessible and relatively easy-to-learn second language. By beginning in childhood, your child is likely to reach adulthood with a grasp of Spanish that’s almost as strong as their grasp of English.
- Cultural Enrichment – Being able to enjoy Spanish literature, music and film in their original forms will help your child understand the rich cultural contributions of Spanish-speaking artists and intellectuals, while affording them the chance to broaden their own horizons.
- Learning a Second Language is Easier During Childhood – Children are already in the process of learning their native language, so they’re typically more open and easily coached in a second language than they would be later in life.
- To Learn Other Romance Languages – With a solid grasp of Spanish, kids will have a much easier time learning French, Portuguese or Italian than they would otherwise, as they are all Romance languages with Latin roots.
These reasons are only the beginning of a very strong case for helping children to learn Spanish as early as possible. As parents, we all want to open every possible door and create every opportunity for our children that we can; giving them the gift of a second language is a great beginning. Source: http://www.Aupairjobs.com
 During pregnancy, many women are pampered and cared for more than at any other time of their lives. Husbands are attentive, family members call to see how the mom-to-be is feeling, and friends host baby showers, lavishing a woman with gifts and attention.But what happens after the baby arrives? Suddenly, pampering of the mother stops and attention shifts to the needs of the baby. The new mother, though physically drained from the rigors of childbirth, gets to work caring not only for her newborn but for others in the household as well.
It doesn’t have to be that way, explains Claudia Kolker in her new book, “The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn From Newcomers to America About Health, Happiness and Hope.” This is not a book about immigration — although it should be mandatory reading for lawmakers debating immigration policy. Instead, it’s a book about best practices and the traditions that immigrants bring with them to this country that could benefit the rest of us.
“I am a convert,” writes Ms. Kolker, a contributing editor to The Houston Chronicle whose reporting career took her to El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti and India, among other places. “Many of these practices are so elegant and efficient at reaching American goals, I believe newcomers need to hang on to them. And the rest of us should consider trying them out for ourselves.”
I recently spoke with Ms. Kolker about the lessons we can learn from immigrants, why hot chocolate is good for new mothers and an ancient pampering ritual called the cuarentena. Here’s our conversation.
Q.Most of us associate immigration with hardship. Why is your book called “The Immigrant Advantage”?
A.My book is about the really smart practices that first-generation immigrants do that help them achieve goals that Americans like myself really want — healthier moms, school success, thrift, the ability to save on a tight budget, how to finance a house or a Ph.D. on a modest budget. Things all of us would really like. These are practices that originated in other countries that translate particularly well in this country.
Q.What do we know about the health of immigrants?
A.There is something called the immigrant paradox that actually shows an immigrant advantage in terms of longevity, infant health, mental health. There are certain elements to the immigrant profile that are very healthy. In many markers, first-generation immigrants tend to be healthier than native-born Americans.
It’s a paradox. Nobody has fully explained it, but the consensus is that self-selection has a lot to do with it. You’re not going to leave your country and everything you know if you have poor health and don’t have confidence you can make your way in the world. There is an attitude that seems typical of immigrants who leave everything they know because they want to improve their family’s life. And right now we are grappling with a lot of health challenges that are connected to our affluence. Immigrants come from places where they don’t have these advantages, and paradoxically, they don’t have some of the health problems we have.
Q.Tell me about this unique practice of mothering the mother that is common among immigrants.
A.It’s called the cuarentena. It sounds like “quarantine,” but it refers to 40 days. In traditional Hispanic culture, as well as many cultures around the world, there is a real ritual attached to the first 40 days or so after a woman has a baby. We attach a lot of ritual to the time before the baby, with baby showers and foods to eat or not to eat during pregnancy and coddling the mother. We don’t really have a prescription for after a baby is born.
But in Mexican culture, it’s highly ritualized. The idea is that women family members traditionally surround a mother and help bathe and clean and diaper the baby. But really the focus of the attention is the well-being and safety and health of the mother for 40 days. The poorer and more rural and more remote a community is, the more likely it is that they are going to take this ritual seriously.
Q.Is it a challenge for immigrants to duplicate the experience in this country?
A.There is no way to duplicate it because you don’t have the family structure or even the architecture. In a Chiapas village in Mexico, you are required to have an aromatherapy sauna at least twice during the 40 days. There are stone structures on the sides of mountains where you go for your ritual sauna. It makes a mom feel pretty good. There is a woman in the community who is a traditional postpartum massage therapist. You can’t recreate all these things, but what they try hard to do is recreate the intensive care, the idea that the new mother is as vulnerable in many ways as a newborn baby.
Q.Can you describe what happens during a cuarentena in this country?
A.In my book I write about spending time in Akron, Ohio, with first-generation laborers from Chiapas. They don’t have an extended family of mothers and sisters. What I found in Akron, which does not happen in Mexico, is that it was men who were taking care of their wives. They were insistent that their wives observe the cuarentena as best they could manage. The women were not allowed to touch a dish or sweep the floor. There was a man who had never touched a broom before. In some cases, they would drive their wives crazy because they didn’t really know how to clean a house. But that was the level of investment in a new mother that they have.
Q.What are some of the foods given to women during the cuarentena?
A.There are very prescribed rituals and foods. If there is chicken, she gets chicken soup. She is given hot chocolate – they have this whole system of certain foods that are cold and not suitable for a postpartum mom. You want to keep her body warm and her system warm. Foods like cucumbers are considered inappropriate for a recovering mother. There are emotions that are considered hot and cold that you need to protect her from. Anger is a cold, frosty emotion, and you need to protect a mother from feeling it or witnessing it.
One food is atole, a comfort drink made from toasted corn and thickened with milk and sugar. It has a lot of symbolic meaning because this is a culture that has revered corn as a divine gift. It’s very good for you. The iron in it is easily absorbed. But it also takes a lot of care to cook it. You have to cook it slowly and reheat it, and every time you give it to someone, you need to reheat it, add water and stir. What I found was that it really seemed to be about the amount of attention and love and engagement with the mother’s well-being.
Q.What else happens during the cuarentena?
A.The mother is supposed to rest. She only has two jobs. One is to cuddle and enjoy her baby. The other is to learn how to breast-feed from experts. Nobody says “wing it” or “nature will take its course.’’ People will help you. There are no expectations that this is easy or spontaneous.
Q.Does this mothering of the mother happen around the world?
A.There is a version of the cuarentena in many, many cultures. The length of time can vary. Chinese women lounge in seclusion for 30 days, while the Onitsha women of Nigeria rest for three months. From South Asia to the Philippines, the Middle East to South America, new mothers and their babies rest for 40 days.
Q.Why is it 40 days?
A.The number 40 has a lot of mystical significance throughout history. There is a lot of biology attached. It takes about 40 days for your reproductive organs to return to their ordinary shape after having a baby. There is an observation about how the human body works and the cycle of nature, and I believe a lot of the folklore follows that.
Q.Is there a take-home message from all the stories you collected for your book?
A.One of the things I learned is this idea of permission — permission to take care of yourself, to ask for help. This felt very revolutionary to me. It also entails giving help — stepping up and being there and not just sending an e-mail or gift basket, with the understanding that you will be helped in the same way. It’s the power of a group of people getting together at their best to do difficult things. With a cuarentena, you’re not alone. It’s difficult being a new mother. To be surrounded, to have other people on the team, it’s a happy atmosphere. It helps you get through it.
Source: New York Times - By Tara-Parker-Pope
 Interviewing mistakes happen in every industry and can instantaneously ruin an opportunity to be hired in just a matter of minutes. I tell my students that it takes merely 30 seconds for the average person to look at you and develop an impression. Everything you do and say thereafter matters.
Here is a quick review of interviewing techniques to follow:
1) Dress Code - Have a preset outfit in your closet ready to wear. It doesn't matter whether you are interviewing for an office or nanny position, dressing conservatively is the way to go. Black/Blue pants with a white blouse, closed-toe shoes, hair back (away from your face), not too much jewelry, light make-up and no perfume is best. Make sure your nails are short and polish is clear or light colored. No loud colors or prints to distract the interviewer from focusing on you. Your appearance should be immaculate.
2) What to Bring - Bring your portfolio that contains your resume, letters of reference, immunization records, CPR certification, certificates of training, diplomas, Trustline Registry letter, copy of identification, driving record and anything else that supports your qualifications for the job.
3) How to Get To the Interview - Use Google maps - the most reliable source to find the location, print out directions and know exactly where you are going. Get the traffic report in the area so you know if there is anything that might delay you. There is no excuse for getting lost. When you make the interview, ask if there are any special instructions.
4) When to Arrive - ON TIME - not early, not late, but exactly at the minute you are supposed to be there. If you arrive early, then wait outside in the car until it is your exact time for the interview.
5) How to Greet - Introduce yourself by saying, "Hello, my name is Marta Perrone, and I am here (from the Domestic Connections Agency) to interview for the nanny position." If you come on your own, without agency representation, then of course simply indicate the manner in which you both connected. If the prospective employer puts out a hand to shake yours, then extend your hand and give a firm grip. If not, then just wait to be asked inside the home. If you meet at a restaurant, wait for the employer to sit down and then sit where indicated. Put your portfolio on your lap or on a table, set your purse aside and sit up tall, shoulders down and relaxed, facing the employer directly.
6) How to Start - Usually the employer will begin. If the question comes up, "did you have any trouble finding it...?" or "is this far from your house?", be sure to always answer in a positive manner, never giving the impression that the distance, traffic or ability to get there was a problem. You may be asked if you want anything to drink. Unless you are dying of thirst, I would suggest not having a prospective employer be bothered with serving you. (Take water in the car and drink some before entering the house/location).
7) Be a good Listener - The employer will most likely begin talking about the job and telling you many details. Listen carefully, and do not interrupt. There is not need to make lots of remarks unless they are relevant. It is best to wait until the employer either asks you a question directly or finishes talking.
8) What to Ask - Ask questions about the family, what the children like to do, where they go to school, preferences for food, activities, etc. If there is a baby, then the questions should all be directed on the mother's philosophies on how she wants her child handled from every perspective.
9) What NOT to Ask - Never ask about money or benefits until a job offer is made. If coming from an agency, you should have a general idea of what the salary and benefits will be for this position if hired. There is no need to discuss this until the employer has made a decision. You have more negotiating power once they are settled on hiring you. Also, the focus of the interview should be whether you and the employer are a good match first.
10) Attitude - Be friendly and energetic during an interview, and remain calm. Nervous energy is not comforting to any mother or father. The best way to exude confidence is to be relaxed as you discuss your qualifications, past jobs, references and constructively interact with the family members.
11) Meet the Children - If the children are present, you might ask if you can meet them. If there is a baby, the mother may or may not want to let you hold the baby. If she suggest that you do so, immediately wash your hands first and then proceed to hold the baby. How you do this makes a first impression of your abilities. The baby may need something while holding him/her, and your response will reinforce your abilities. The idea is give the mother confidence that you are qualified.
12) Be Positive - Never speak ill of former jobs or employers. You may have had a recent problem in a job; however, it is best not to discuss this in a negative manner. If it has to be discussed because the employer is insisting on knowing the reason why you are unemployed, then speak about the situation in the most diplomatic way possible. Try to use phrases such as: "we came to the conclusion that it would be best if we parted ways" or "our philosophies on child rearing were not a good match" or "I simply wasn't comfortable working for this family any longer".
13) Leaving the Interview - Tell the employer that you are reachable for any further information (or to please contact the agency). Suggest a second interview once she has narrowed down her choices. Make yourself available for a trial day so that you can spend more time together. Comment on your interest to work there and thank her for her time and the opportunity to interview.
14) Follow-up - If you do not work with an agency, you can certainly follow-up by email (If you don't have an email address for them, send a thank you note by mail) reiterating your interest in the job and looking forward to her response. If you are working with an agency, call them immediately to discuss the interview and your interest. Be clear on when the prospective employer will be making a decision and stay in close touch with the agency or employer. If you don't have an email address for them, send a thank you note by mail.
15) Hired or Not Hired -Everyone knows the saying "it was or wasn't meant to be" - If not hired, be confident that you will find another opportunity suitable for you. If hired, then congratulations....you have successfully passed "The Interview Test"!
 Nannies all over the nation are seeking training today at various designated agencies in many states. This is a wonderful opportunity for nannies to get take additional training to become a more experienced nanny and household worker. Families need to support these venues and send their nannies for further training to ensure that they are always growing in their profession. Joining the International Nanny Association is another good way to seek further training. The Professional Housekeeper training center, we provide household management classes for nannies and housekeepers.
If you want to be an awesome nanny who everyone wants to employ, then continue taking classes and learning more about your field. Take advantage of today's training at your nearby Agency. In Los Angeles, Westside Nannies is the sponsoring agency.
http://www.MartaPerrone.com
 Scientists have identified a new enzyme that could lead to new treatment for preeclampsia, a potentially fatal condition of pregnancy. Preeclampsia develops in 7% of U.S. pregnancies. Symptoms for this are: dangerously high blood pressure, high urinary protein and increased blood-clot formation. In a recent study, there were significantly increased levels of an enzyme called thromboxane synthase which is associated with high blood pressure and clot formation. Blocking or inhibiting the enzyme could form the basis for new treatment for preeclampsia. Folic acid supplements also could protect against adverse DNA changes that could lead to preeclampsia.
The Supreme Court’s liberal and conservative sides are evenly split over the question of whether the “individual mandate” requiring every American to carry health insurance or pay a fine is constitutional.
Immediately I begin to think about those individuals who work in the private service industry as a Housekeeper, Nanny, Cook, Companion, Mother’s Helper, Butler, just to name a few. In this line of work, very few hired individuals are offered health insurance. It appears that only the higher paid professionals such as household and estate managers are most often provided this benefit. The others, who are making an income of only $20,000-$36,000 per year, need this benefit the most. There is no mandate forcing families to provide health insurance to hired private service professionals. (In most states, these same domestic workers do not receive any other benefits such as vacation, sick days or holidays, unless the family chooses to do so.) When domestic workers are represented by agencies, the likelihood is that they will receive most of these benefits because they are educating their clients and suggesting that they provide such benefits to stay in line with what is typical in the industry. However, they are hard-pressed to force clients to offer health insurance. Hence, most domestic workers do not receive this benefit.
Everyone, including myself, likes the idea that “everyone should have health insurance”, but if they cannot afford it and an employer is not offering this benefit, how do they afford it? Furthermore, the concept of charging a penalty on top is seriously like throwing salt into a wound. It may heal the problem, but it also will throw someone further into debt.
There are organizations like Domestic Worker’s Alliance who are fighting across the nation to overcome this battle through legislation so that domestic workers obtain benefits and better working conditions. Many domestic agencies do not think what they are doing is useful and worry that forcing these conditions on their clients will steer them underground. Agency owners will clearly tell you that they are there to help their applicants get a good working agreement that includes all these protections. Yet, not everyone goes to an agency for employment nor finds available working opportunities through agencies. The bottom line is that if a family doesn’t want to or can’t afford to offer health insurance, the “housekeeper” is simply not going to have it.
It is not easy to come up with a solution to this health care problem. However, the health care industry as a whole must be revamped. It is ridiculously expensive to have any procedure and forget about it if you happen to need an operation. Five minutes in an emergency ward to make sure you are OK could cost you $3,500. Health insurance companies gauge people making it impossible to pay their plans and refuse you if you have a previous condition that makes you highly unaffordable from their perspective. Perhaps if it wouldn’t cost so much, everyone could find a way to afford health insurance as well as provide it to their employees.
http://www.martaperrone.com
 Jiovanna Campbell came to this country at age 3 illegally. When Jiovanna was 9, there was a death in the family. Her parents decided to take their uncle’s body back to Mexico for burial. After spending several months back in Mexico, the family once again returned to the Bay Area illegally. Jiovanna finished high school, enrolled in college and married her high school sweetheart, a U.S. Citizen. At this point, she no longer wanted to have “illegal status” and took the advice of a notary public to return to Mexico to request legal status as the “wife of a US citizen. However, soon after arriving in Ciudad Juarez, she discovered that her childhood trip to Mexico meant that she could not return to the U.S. under current immigration laws. The 1996 Immigration Law does not allow individuals to leave the country, even for short visits due to death in the family. Immigration advocates say this is unfair that people are punished for their parents’ poor choices. It is one thing to get tough on immigrants crossing the border, it another to do so with a 24 year old woman who was brought to this country by her parents at age 3, studied her whole life here and is now married to a U.S. citizen and pregnant. Marta Perrone is now offering immigration services through an affiliation with L.A. Law Center, P.A. – Lawrence S. Aarons – lawyer and consultant of law. If you want to know ways in which you can gain legal status here in the U.S., come join us on April 21st at our offices and meet Lawrence Aarons to discuss immigration issues. 16656 Ventura Blvd. #204 - Encino, CA 91436 Registration for this event is necessary. Click Here to registerhttp://www.MartaPerrone.com
 You have good manners, right? After all, you (usually) keep your elbows off the table and say "Please pass the salt," right? But when you head abroad, things get a little more complicated. Case in point: Rest your chopsticks the wrong way, and you might remind a Japanese friend of their grandmother's funeral (Rule 2). But knowing what the etiquette rules are won't just save you from some awkward situations, says Dean Allen, author of the "Global Etiquette Guide" series. It can also help you make friends. "It's really a statement of your openness and awareness of the fact that the people you're with... may in fact see the world differently," he says. "It's simply going to get you out of the tourist bubble." Sound good? Then here are 15 rules to keep in mind.
In Thailand, don't put food in your mouth with a fork.
Instead, when eating a dish with cooked rice, use your fork only to push food onto your spoon. A few exceptions: Some northern and northeastern Thai dishes are typically eaten with the hands -- you'll know you've encountered such a dish if the rice used is glutinous or "sticky". Also, stand-alone items that are not part of a rice-based meal may be eaten with a fork. But, says Leela Punyaratabandhu, a food writer who blogs at SheSimmers.com, the worst thing to do at a traditional, rice-based meal would be to use chopsticks. "That is awkward and inconvenient at best and tacky at worst," she says.
In Japan, never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice.
Between bites, your chopsticks should be placed together right in front of you, parallel to the edge of the table -- and nowhere else, says Mineko Takane Moreno, Japanese cooking instructor and co-author of "Sushi for Dummies." (If there is a chopsticks rest, you use it, putting the tips you've been eating with on the rest.) But sticking them upright in a bowl of rice is even worse: During funerals in Japan, the rice bowl of the deceased is placed before their coffin...with their chopsticks upright in the rice. So what would she rather see: Someone doing that at a meal, or asking for a fork? Mineko doesn't hesitate. "Asking for a fork," she says.
In the Middle East, India and parts of Africa, don't eat with your left hand.
In South India, you shouldn't even touch the plate with your left hand while eating. That's largely because the left hand is associated with, um, bodily functions, so it's considered to be dirty. In fact, says Allen, don't even pass important documents with your left hand. A lefty? Then it's okay to use your left hand -- as long as you take your right hand out of the game.
At a traditional feast in Georgia, it's rude to sip your wine.
At what Georgians call a supra (traditional feast), wine is drunk only at toasts. So wait for those... and then down the whole glass at once. On the upside, says Georgia-based photographer and videographer Paul Stephens, the glasses tend to be on the small side.
In Mexico, never eat tacos with a fork and knife.
Worried about spilling refried beans and salsa all over your front? Tough. Mexicans think that eating tacos with a fork and knife looks silly and, worse, snobby -- kind of like eating a burger with silverware. So be polite: Eat with your hands.
In Italy, only drink a cappuccino before noon.
Some Italians say that a late-day cappuccino upsets your stomach, others that it's a replacement for a meal (it's common to have just a cappuccino, or a cappuccino and a croissant, for breakfast). Either way, you won't see Italians ordering one in a café at 3pm -- and certainly not after a big dinner. Do so, and you'll be instantly branded a tourist. If you need that coffee fix, though, an espresso is fine.
In Britain, always pass the port to the left -- and remember the Bishop of Norwich.
It's unclear why passing port on the left is so important; some say it has to do with naval tradition (the port side of a boat is on your left if you're facing the helm). Regardless, passing the decanter to the right is a big gaffe. So is not passing it at all. If you're at a meal and the decanter stalls, then ask the person with it, "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" If they say they don't know him, reply, "He's a very good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port." It sounds weird, but it's true. This is such a nationwide tradition, the Telegraph wrote an article on it.
In France, don't eat your bread as an appetizer before the meal.
Instead, eat it as an accompaniment to your food or, especially, to the cheese course at the end of the meal. That said, one thing that would be a faux pas anywhere else -- placing bread directly on the table and not on a plate -- is perfectly acceptable in France -- in fact, it's preferred.
In China, don't flip the fish.
Although you might be used to flipping over a whole fish once you've finished one side, don't -- at least when you're in China, especially southern China and Hong Kong. That's because flipping the fish is "dao yue" in Chinese, a phrase similar to "bad luck." Plus, says Allen, "to flip the fish over is like saying that the fisherman's boat is going to capsize." The most superstitious will leave the bottom part untouched, while others will pull off the bone itself to get to the bottom.
In Italy, don't ask for parmesan for your pizza -- or any other time it's not explicitly offered.
Putting parmigiano on pizza is seen as a sin, like putting Jell-O on a fine chocolate mousse. And many pasta dishes in Italy aren't meant for parmesan: In Rome, for example, the traditional cheese is pecorino, and that's what goes on many classic pastas like bucatini all'amatriciana, not parmesan. A rule of thumb: If they don't offer it to you, don't ask for it.
Don't eat anything, even fries, with your hands at a meal in Chile.
Manners here are a little more formal than many other South American countries. So while it might be the most practical to just pick up those fries with your fingers, don't do it. "The greater need is to identify with European culture, so food is [eaten] with a knife and a fork," Allen says.
In Korea, if an older person offers you a drink, lift your glass to receive it with both hands.
Doing so is a sign of respect for elders, an important tenet of Korean culture. After receiving the pour with both hands, you should turn your head away and take a discreet sip, says Stephen Cha-Kim, a Korean-born worker's rights advocate who regularly visits family in Korea. "To this day, if anybody hands me anything, both hands shoot out instinctively," Cha-Kim says. Similarly, don't start eating until the eldest male has done so (and don't leave the table until that person is finished).
Never mix -- or turn down -- vodka in Russia.
The beverage is always drunk neat -- and no, not even with ice. Adding anything is seen as polluting the drink's purity (unless the mixer is beer, which produces a formidable beverage known as yorsh). But there's another faux pas that's even worse, says Allen: when you're offered the drink and you turn it down. Since offering someone a drink is a sign of trust and friendship, it's a good idea to take it. Even if it is 9am.
When drinking coffee with Bedouins in the Middle East, shake the cup at the end.
Typically, anyone Bedouin -- or Bedouin-related -- will continue to pour you more coffee once you've finished unless you shake the cup, meaning tilting the cup two or three times, when you hand it back. It's such an important tip, says Middle East-based freelance correspondent Haley Sweetland Edwards, that last year, Bedouins she was eating with in Qatar made her practice it until she got it right.
In Brazil, play your tokens wisely.
At a churrascaria, or a Brazilian steakhouse, servers circle with cuts of meat and diners use tokens to place an order. If a server comes out with something you want, make sure your token, which you'll have at your table, has the green side up. If you don't want any more, flip it with the red side up. Since the meat can be never-ending, it's important to strategize -- if you leave that token green side up you could end up ordering a lot more than you intended.
Source: By Amanda Ruggeri, Budget Travel - CNN-Travel
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The changes announced by the home secretary, Theresa May, as part of a wider package of immigration reform will prevent foreign cooks, nannies and other staff who come to work in private households from switching employer or staying longer than six months. These changes are being made to ensure that overseas visitors and diplomats can be accompanied by their domestic staff and the route is not used to provide permanent access to Britain for unskilled workers. But campaigners believe the changes will mean any domestic workers who leave a private household to escape abuse will immediately face the prospect of being deported. Jenny Moss of Kalayaan, which supports migrant domestic workers, said: "The decision to remove the right to change employer, and therefore remove an important protection from abuse, turns the clock back 15 years to the days when domestic workers were deported for experiencing abuse." Her concern was echoed by Audrey Guichon of Anti-Slavery International, who said that tying domestic workers to one employer was in effect licensing slavery. "These proposed changes will give unscrupulous bosses the power to threaten workers with deportation if they do not comply with whatever they demand," she said. She added the situation in Britain would now mirror the "kafala" system across the Middle East where a change of employer means losing the right to residency. The home secretary said she recognized there was a danger of abusive behaviour in this situation and it was important that employers knew what was and was not acceptable. She said that written terms and conditions of employment would be required before workers came to Britain. http://www.Martaperrone.com
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