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An Au Pair is a
single person, aged 17-27, without dependents, who
comes to the UK to learn English and live as part
of an English speaking family for up to 2 years.
In return for helping around the house and
assisting with basic childcare they receive pocket
money of at least £55 per week for 25 hours 'work'
(Home Office minimum recommendation) and have
their own bedroom and all meals provided.
Au Pairs come
from either an EU country or from some none EU
countries:
- No aupair visa required:
Andorra, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Faroe
Islands, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia,
Liechenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland,
San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Switzerland
- Aupair visa required before
travel: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia,
Romania, Turkey
Aupairs can
work in the family home for up to 25 hours per
week ( plus 2 nights babysitting) and have 2 full
days off per week for free time. Au Pairs from EU
countries can work more hours (up to 35 + 2
evenings babysitting) in return for more
pocket money. All Au Pairs will require a letter
of invitation from the host family in order to be
granted their au pair visa.
Au Pairs are
generally intelligent, trustworthy and reliable
people keen to improve their English and learn
about the British way of life in return for being
an 'extra pair of hands' around the
house.
One of
the main purposes of the Au Pair Scheme is to
allow people to learn and improve English whilst
living with an English speaking family. Au Pairs
will usually study at a local college and the Au
Pair will usually be expected to pay for this,
although many courses are free of charge to EU
residents. The host family should advise her of
the availability and cost of the lessons. Some
families may contribute to these
costs.
Whilst in
the UK Au Pairs will usually be covered by the
National Health Service and the host family should
register the Au Pair with the family doctor if
possible. The Au Pair may have to consider private
cover for dentists
costs.
An Au Pair is
not a servant, a qualified nanny, a chef or a
professional cleaner. Au Pairs work for up to 25
hours per week plus up to 2 evenings per week
babysitting, in return for at least £55 weekly
pocket money. The work involved is generally
helping with children, cleaning, ironing, helping
prepare food and other light housework. The Au
Pair must have 2 full days off per week, and these
should be agreed in advance to allow the Au Pair
to make arrangements. An 'Au Pair Plus' can work
for up to 35 hours per week in return for
pocket money of approximately £100. Au Pairs are
currently entitled to one week paid holiday for
every 6 months worked.
The Au Pair will
generally be expected to make their own travel
arrangements to the UK, although in some cases the
family may choose to reimburse this cost to the
aupair. The family will then either meet her at
the point of arrival, or will have provided her
with a ticket for onward transport to their home.
The Au Pair should have an open return ticket, and
should always have enough money in reserve for an
emergency.
If the Au Pair is expected to
drive in the UK she should bring her driving
licence/ international driving licence, and the
host family should arrange 'refresher' lessons
with a local driving instructor to help the Au
Pair adapt to driving on the left etc. From our
experience it is impossible to guarantee the
driving ability of any aupair in the UK - we have
had very inexperienced drivers who have adapted
very quickly and successfully to the UK, and
likewise very experienced drivers who have not
adapted so quickly. It is the responsibility of
the client to ensure that the aupair is given
sufficient time and lessons with an instructor to
ensure that they attain the standard required.
It should also be made clear when or if
the Au Pair has personal use of the car, and if so
whether or not she is responsible for petrol/ car
cleaning etc. The host family should add the Au
Pair to the insurance policy of the car, and we
would suggest that the insurers of the home are
also advised. Where a family request an aupair
that is willing to drive, we can usually provide
these, but obviously we can not guarantee the
driving skills of the aupair as we have no means
of assessment other than the fact that they have a
driving licence.
Telephone calls from the
UK can be expensive. It should be agreed between
the family and the au pair whether or not the home
phone can be used for calls, who will pay for the
calls, and when they will be paid for. We can help
to suggest good mobile tarriffs which can be as
cheap, if not cheaper, than BT landline
calls.
Where the family goes on holiday the
Au Pair should either go with the family or be
allowed to stay in the family home. In either case
she should still be paid and food should still be
provided.
Useful
hints and tips
You must complete your
application form completely honestly to ensure
that we can find you the best match of au pair and
host family possible. When the Au Pair arrives in
the UK the family will either meet her in London,
or will already have sent her a ticket for travel
from London to their home. Everything will seem
very strange at first, and the Au Pair will
probably be a little homesick. The family should
understand this and help her to settle in to the
home.
Please remember that when the aupair
first arrives she may have been travelling for up
to 25 hours if arriving by bus, or up to
approximately 12 hours if by plane. They will be
tired, apprehensive, excited, and emotional and
will need a little time to adjust. Many things
that we take for granted are different in the UK -
the water, bread, food, transport, and many other
things - and the aupair will need to get used to
these differences.
Try to arrange a 'meeting' with
the family and the Au Pair within the first 24
hours to decide her working rota, whether or not
she can make telephone calls home,( and if so
should she pay for them), when and how the family
will pay her, which days are her free days,
whether or not she will be able to bring friends
to the house, details of the local English
classes, and arrangements for a doctor and dentist
registration. We would also suggest that the
family write down as much as possible of the
duties that they require.
The Au Pair and the Family will
probably have different ways of doing certain
things and these will crop up over a long period
of time. These should be discussed and the
'agreed' way done in future. Clearly at first
there will be a language barrier no matter how
good the Au Pair's English is. Both sides should
be patient and the translation dictionary should
always be close at hand! If a difficult situation
really can not be resolved then call us. We may be
able to help or offer an alternative solution that
can not be seen by those close to the
situation.
Most Au Pair placements run very
smoothly and many long term friendships are made,
but even the best of friends have disagreements
sometimes. By nipping small problems in the bud at
an early stage many potential difficulties are
avoided. This is equally the same for the Au Pair
and the Host Family.
We suggest
that these simple rules of thumb will help with
the placement..
- Everything is new for the aupair and the
family, so patience is critical
- Learning a new language is exhausting - the
aupair will be tired at the beginning
- There WILL be a period when the aupair feels
homesick (usually in the first 6 weeks)
- If this is your first aupair, it will take
time to get used to having someone else in the
home.
- Driving in the UK is completely different -
especially roundabouts, the side of the road and
driving manners. European drivers tend to be
slightly more agressive drivers usually.
- The sooner the aupair can make some friends
locally, the better - generally.
- Don't assume that the aupair understands -
write it down too if it is important (We can
translate if you want to email it to us)
- Give the aupair a written copy of the
schedule/work rota, and clear instructions on
important issues, as soon as is practically
possible. (Again, we can translate if you email
it to us)
- Treat the aupair as you would want your own
daughter treated if she had gone, on her own, to
a totally foreign country and only had a basic
understanding of the language.
- If you need someone who speaks better
English we can supply Experienced Aupairs, or
Eastern European Nannies, with much better
English and more childcare experience, but
obviously they ask for more money
weekly! (approximately £4 - £4.50
net per hour depending on
age, working hours and experience), or
alternatively experienced aupairs (with better
English and possibly UK driving experience) but
obviously they would look for a higher pay rate
than a new aupair - typically £3-4
net per hour live-in.
- If you need someone with fluent written
and spoken English we recommend you try our
nanny division. Nanny rates, live-in, are
typically around £5-6 net per
hour. An English speaking proxy parent would
typically charge in the region of £100-150 per
day! You can see the possible tax/NI
implications for the Family by clicking here .
- One of the most important factors in this
relationship will be your patience, and the
amount of time that you can give to your aupair
to assist with their language, and any issues
that they may have as well as your own issues.
- Treat the first 2 or 3 weeks as a
training/settling in period for you and the
aupair and you will probably reap the reards in
the longer term. The aupair will be glad to have
a proper understanding of your
rules/requirements and you will be more
confident that she understands your specific
requirements. All homes are different!
We hope that these guidelines
will help to ensure a smoother, longer term
placement - certainly our experience shows that it
probably will do.
Remember - if ever you
are not sure how to explain something, or feel
that your aupair has nodded and said ''yes'', but
you are not sure she has understood, then please
email/fax us in English and we will translate it
and send it back or call you/the aupair back.
Finally, whilst we want to help at all times,
we have families too!! The office is open from
Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays) from
8.30am We are confident that we can resolve
most family/aupair queries within these
hours.
We do also have an emergency, out of
hours number, for...
emergencies! |
