Au Pair childcare

LegacyUser

Hi there,

Do any of you use an Au Pair? I have just started an Au Pair live for the summer months and as it is going so well, wonder could I ask an Au Pair to be my main childcare provider. I may have to increase my work hours as the cost of living is so high and have been thinking of having the Au Pair provide the childcare as creche fees are so high.

The Au Pair will have to mind an 18 month and a 3year old, together with an older school going child four days a week, 9am - 5pm. Is this usual or is this too much to ask of someone in their early 20s.

What are your thoughts. All helpful tips welcome.

lazygal

If you're employing someone in your home, you are responsible for registering as an employer, paying the employee's tax and PRSI and holiday pay. I thought au pair systems were for a helping hand with the children for a few hours and nights a week, in exchange for food and board, and the au pair did language classes and passed on a few words of French, Spanish or whatever to the kids.

You don't need an au pair, you need full time childcare. The two are not the same. Is the person in question qualified in child care and does he or she want to be a full time child care provider? I wouldn't leave my children in the care of someone not qualified.

Moonbeam

That law does not apply to au pairs.
There are different types of au pairs and 32 hours would not be a crazy amount of hours but look in to it in detail 1st.
There are a few differences between having an au pair and other child care options.

lazygal

The impression I'm getting is that the OP is looking for a cheap option rather than wanting the au pair experience, as most of the references are to the cost of living and child care. I think the au pair system is abused by parents and has far too many loopholes in it. It might be a 32 hour week, but there is care for three children involved, and no indication of the rates of pay.

Moonbeam

It obviously depends on how the au pair is treated and how much they are paid.

doubletrouble?

hi o.p.
we're on our third au pair. in your post it's doesn't state whether she's a live in or live out, also whether you've done done up a contract for her before she started.
live in au pairs are generally paid less then live outs on the grounds they've no over heads.
we pay ours €140 per week for about 35 hours minding the twins. i suppose the biggest difference between au pairs and childminders is the qualifications. au pair tend to have no childcare qualifications but are happy to mind children. i'm not going to say whether it's right or wrong to mind 3 children as this is the agreement between you and your au pair. at the end of the day it takes both sides to be happy and agree with the arrangement.
there is always a debate on whether au pairs are really childminders. as someone said this is where it's open to abuse.
au pair guidelines tend to differ in each country. even various websites from the same country can give different guidelines such as pay and working hours. even in ireland some would say the au pair can work a max of 35 hours whiles others would say 40 hours with a weekend night paid babysitting.
in general there are no rules, not yet any way.
but getting back to your post. the fact is you've already started this au pair and no doubt would've set out terms such as payment ,hours etc.
i just had quick chat with our au pair and i asked her that if she was required to work more hours per week would she expect to be paid more and her reply was "yes".
it really depends on your relationship with your au pair and how well you communicate with each other. every few weeks we would sit with our au pair and have a good chat with her on how she getting on, her happiness with herself, us and the twins and anything else that needs to be discussed. basically shes treated as part of the family in every way.
as i said we're on our third au pair. before she started she had the least au pairing experience, 2 weeks to be exact and to be honest she is by far the best one.
most au pairs tend to pay the college fees for a year but only do 6 months of college, the other 6 moths are taken as holidays.
some do the following.
3 months college, 6 months holidays and 3 months college
ours did
6 months college and had just started 6 months holidays before she started with us.
the studying arrangement is done between the students and college.

clodaghowens

Hi All,
We have recently taken on an au pair to help us with our children. I was wondering are there any groups set up in the Kilkenny/Waterford area as she is keen to meet new friends. She does tend to mainly join with us on weekends but I know she would like to make her own friends too. Can any of you let me know what you do in your areas?
Thanks
Clodagh