Can we talk about au pairs please !

[Hididi]

My family is considering getting an au pair. Brexit has of course completely changed the industry and made it impossible for people to come over and work for families unless they already had a pre settled status.
So my question is- are people still hiring au pairs at the moment? if so are they doing it illegally on a 6 months tourist visa?
If you are currently looking for an au pair can you tell me how you are going about it and how long you've been looking?

Thanks a lot!

I know quite a few people now who have similar agreements with Ukrainian refugees, who have legal right to work for 3 years. You'll have to be their sponsor, but the process is relatively straightforward.

If you look hard enough you can find au pairs from Aus/SA/US who have the right to either a UK passport or an ancestral visa. We had several and it was highly successful. However they don't tend to stick around for all that long as obviously once they have got here and found their feet, they can actually go off and get a proper job. But you can certainly agree a minimum period with them and also agree they can do some other work when not looking after kids so they can get some more cash in.

Where I live it’s impossible as there are many families paying £150/week for an au pair. Depending on how many hours you need then it might be cheaper to get a live out babysitter once you factor in food and excessive showers and toilet roll usage!

I do know of another school mum who got her au pair on a tourist visa. She found her on the au pair world website.

This website might be helpful www.workaway.info/

Their website says
"Please note due to the UK leaving the EU, freedom of movement from the EU to the UK ended on 1st Jan 2021. If you are not a UK citizen, Irish citizen, settled status holder, Commonwealth citizen with the right to abode in the UK, BNO passport holder with valid visa or have a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme (working holiday) visa and you are entering the UK to work or study you may be refused entry to the UK after Jan 1st 2021 unless you have the correct visas and permits in place. To find out more information about visas and work permits for your nationality you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling"

Youth Mobility Scheme visa
www.gov.uk/youth-mobility

Hi @notanothertakeaway I did hear about the mobility scheme but hadnt looked into it. So its based on where you are from mainly. This is interesting and could work. Thank you for all the information :)

I just wanted to see if many people hired au pairs on tourist visas (paying cash obviously) and that worked in practical. For example- can you register with a GP if you are on a tourist visa?

Hi @roses2 Thanks for getting back to me. So it sounds like you school mum friend has a positive experience. Is she a good friend of yours and on mumsnet by any chance 🙃 I have 1000 questions! Jokes aside practically - can you for example register yourself with a GP if you are on a tourist visa? Online it says you can only be a temporary patient for 3 months, how would you get help if you are sick beyond that? Things like that concern me..

Happy to help with ideas / suggestions how to do this legally, but I think it's unfair to ask an au pair to break the law so you can get cheap childcare

@notanothertakeaway Well hiring someone is very much a 2 way system where everyone has to be comfortable with the plan in place. I in no way would want to profit from someone and put them in a tricky position. Hence my post! I know when one thinks 'au pair', a naive 19 year old who barely speaks the language comes to mind but in reality, from what Ive seen its a different and more savvy crowd. But the point of my post is how are people doing this so that it works for everyone? How can we do this in a fair and safe way for both parties? People seem to be bringing girls over on a tourist visa- I want to know more. How do they get them proper healthcare? Can they get a temporary bank card? And other things I have probably not thought of yet

I have looked into it and it doesn't feel particularly financially sensible - on top of paying for food, extra bills, it seems to be expected that you pay £100-150 a week, plus extras (phone, travel card, gym membership). For us, when all we really need is 3 X school pick ups and the odd evening babysitting, it's both cheaper and less hassle just to hire a live out nanny. They are better qualified and you don't have to have someone else living in your house.

I think it's only really worth it if you work antisocial hours and need say overnight childcare

@Classicblunder this is interesting. I have found it extremely difficult - I actually want to say impossible- to find a nanny to help for parts of the day. My family was offering a good hourly rate and no one was applying because they wanted a full time position. And I was not the only one, its a common issue where I live (west sussex). And with children and a partner who works long hours, '"3 mornings a week" isnt actually the type of help needed. Its more of a day to day thing. Like you would get with grand parents or a reliable nanny. In an ideal world I dont particularly want someone living in my home, but how do you get help with an absent husband and 0 support around you?

@forinborin thats interesting Im going to look into that. Thank you !

This sounds like a recipe for disaster

Tourists have access to A&E but anything else they have to pay for

That's a shame - I suspect it's about your area. We are in London and there are plenty of people looking for work - after school nannies are often students or older women looking for a few hours but not full time.

@Classicblunder Ugh. I had my add up for 3 months and had 3 applicants in total. And 2 never showed up to the interview 😁

Gosh- *ad, not add !

You need to be more proactive! Get yourself registered on childcare.go.uk and next door. You need to message people, don’t wait for applicants to contact you as that won’t work.

Im in London and like you most want full time hours. I had to reach out to over 50 people but eventually found someone who was interested in the hours I had to offer.

@Hididi The penalty for employing someone who does not have the right to work in the U.K. is up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine (although usually £20k per illegal employee).

I understand finding childcare can be really hard but not only would you be breaking the law, you are denying the au pair of any kind of rights in terms of healthcare or benefits or employment rights. What happens if she has a health condition which isn’t an A&E thing but stops her working and she can’t get home? Where would she go? Would you still pay her?

Sorry to be so blunt, but getting an illegal au pair would be exploitation. There are several agencies that can help you with this, including visas and paperwork. I don’t understand why you just wouldn’t do it above board??

Are there any universities or polytechnics near you? Try putting ads up there.

Hi @BookwormButNoTime This is why I am posting to understand how everyone is doing this. My understanding is that it is illegal. If you call any agency they will tell you that their 'supply' of au pairs is non existent because of brexit. But on the other hand on FB there are ads everywhere from girls and families, all still looking to be matched up. So Im trying to understand how people are making it work.
I have spoken to quite a few girls who are currently employed by families under a tourist visa (they all were very happy with the arrangement, Id hardly call it exploitation) but Its harder to speak to the families though as obviously they dont want to out themselves, and this is why Im posting here asking the more practical questions. Such a healthcare. Such as contracts. Im curious and want to hear from people who went down this path so I can get a full picture.

You cannot surely have a contract if you are hiring them illegally and paying them cash……

@BookwormButNoTime yep no contract. That was the wrong say to say. But I meant logistics in general.
It is illegal yes. But it was a perfectly good system up until a few months ago and its been made illegal for no reason.
Im not here to debate with you wether this is right or wrong, Im here to hear from people who are actually doing it. Because people are doing it everywhere. I want to understand how this is working for them. And then I can decide how I feel about it.

It never ceases to amaze me how people are willing to take such ridiculous risks with their children in the interests of saving a few quid.