Au Pairs - advice needed (rather long)

[SlowestLoris]

Hello, I am very much hoping that the collective wisdom of Mumsnet can help me out here.

Situation: I'm a single mum with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old, working full time. The 4yr old starts school in September.

I can put the 2yr old in nursery full time and the same nursery will do wrap around for the school hours, but this would mean they are both out of the house from 7:30 til 6 which just seems too much (and it's a bit much for me).

Reducing hours is non starter so I'm thinking I need an au pair.

Plan for the 30 hours would be something like this each working day:

7am - 9:30 [drop both off] 3pm - 6pm [pick both up] - 27.5 hours a week. No duties other than looking after them and cleaning up to a reasonable degree as she goes along as she'd be doing breakfast and tea.

• no duties at weekend
• likely that nothing to do for at least some of the school holidays
• no use of car but n Birmingham and it's a short train into town
• small room but i am decorating it
• not much spare cash so food would be fairly budget
• have wifi and use of laptop

My questions are:

• is this realistic?
• what sort of pocket money do you think? I could pay for a travel card as well
• can I safely do this through au pair world.
• if so is there an expectation that I'd pay travel costs to get here / anything else up front?
• finally, and this is my biggest concern, what happens if she becomes ill or is just useless? Where do I stand legally?

If there is anyone out there who can help i'd be ever so grateful

It probably is realistic if you get someone good and capable if dealing with 2 children, one if which is a 2yo.

Pay - probably £75-£80/week minimum plus the travel card if they're going to need it, for example to get to English lessons. More in school holidays if they'll be doing full day care.

You can go through AP world if you're clear on what you want, will accept, won't accept, who you can't employ etc. You shouldn't have to pay anything up front beyond the membership so you can send messages on AP World.

If they're useless then it's relatively easy in the first year to give them notice (and you'll know early on if they're not working out). The downside is you then have to find another one and possibly have a bit of a childcare gap.

If they get ill they're entitled to use the NHS but you'll have to cover while they're sick and depending on how much you pay, possibly administer SSP.

What happens in school holidays when you are working? Are you looking for full day care? That's a big ask with 2 youngish children and you'll need to pay a bit extra.

I think a lot of it will depend on whether you can find the right person to take it on. You'll definitely need someone with experience and a good level of English already, which cuts down your pool of candidates and puts the price up, but you don't need a driver which is a good thing.

Thanks ever so much. Feel very lost!

School holidays are fine, I'd plan not to need them at all as I'd combine taking time off myself, and my mum and their dad should be able to cover the rest.

Re uselessness, could I not find myself in the situation where if I sack them they have nowhere to go? Do I just have to be hard nosed?

So I guess the answer is just to get onto au pair world and see what I an find...

If you need to sack them, you either give them a month's notice so they have time to find somewhere to go (might be awkward) or you pay their flight home. Think about your own daughter in that situation and how you'd like her treated.

I would go for someone 20+, who has lived away from home before and therefore knows how to hoover and operate a washing machine. Look for someone with childcare experience and take up references - is there a language you or your friends/family members know, to enable you to take up references in that language?