Au Pairs                                                                                     An Au Pair is a young person, usually 18-20 years old, sometimes older, who lives with a family in another country for up to 1  to 2 years.                           The Au Pair Programme has existed for a few decades and is a Cultural Exchange scheme based around childcare.                                                               This means that the Au Pair/Au Pair Plus will live with the family as part of the family. The family benefits because the Au Pair is live-in and flexible. She/he will help with the children and with light household chores for about 25 hours (35 max) per week and also babysit for 2 evenings per week.                                                                                                                   The Au Pair benefits from the exciting experience of living in a foreign country, learning the language and the culture of that country and is also provided with pocket money of usually £80-£100 per week.                                                                                                           The Au Pair must be treated as part of your family. Usually Apairs are female however there are also many good male Au Pairs.                                                   The Au Pair is expected to help with a some household chores which could include some of the following: Vacuum cleaning Dusting Putting the washing on Drying laundry Folding & putting laundry away Loading/Unloading the dishwasher Helping to keep kitchen clean & tidy, including sweeping & mopping floors Helping to keep bathrooms clean Tidying children’s rooms and communal areas of house Preparing light meals for the children Small grocery shopping Ironing for children Emptying bins                                                                                                                                                             They should NOT be given heavy duty cleaning Chores should be shared between Au Pair and Family (or other domestic help). The Au Pair should be supporting you in looking after the children more than looking after the house. The Au Pair must be given enough time to attend a language course                                                                                                                   Au  Pairs should not be given on-going sole charge of children under 3 years old. If you require this then you should engage a Nanny.                                                A basic outline of duties, hours and conditions should be agreed to before the Au Pair arrives. This should be set out in the initial Letter of Invitation. Any subsequent changes to the agreed duties, hours and conditions must be agreed to by both parties.                                                                                                             An Au Pair should be given a 4 week’s paid holiday per year plus all UK bank holidays.  The Au Pair should be given sufficient time to be able to return home on visits.                                                                       An Au Pair should be paid a minimum weekly pocket money of £80 and minimum £90 for an Au Pair Plus (normal rates are £80 for 25 hrs, £90 for 30 hrs and £100 for 35 hrs per week. If an Au Pair is babysitting 2 nights per week, only 1 of these evenings should be at the weekend, the other should be during the week.                                                                                                       An Au Pair must be given a private room to themselves. This must be clean, comfortable  You should provide them with a good bed, chair & desk and somewhere for them to store their clothes and other belongings. A television and Wifi connection is also common.                                                                         An Au Pair can work 1 day at the weekend (by prior agreement) but they must be compensated by being given a day off during the week. They should be given the full weekend off at least once per month.      The Au Pair should be invited to join the family in some leisure activities.                                                      The Au Pair should be prepared to pay for their own travel costs (outward and return). Some families offer to help with the cost, or to pay for their travel back home again, particularly for candidates from less affluent countries.