How much to pay English Au Pair in London?

[MogwaiTheGremlin]

Hi
I'm looking to employ an 18 year old English au pair for 25 hours a week split over 3 days (so she'll have 2 days off plus evenings and weekends).

The duties are quite light (taking my toddler to local playgroup in the morning then just an extra pair of hands helping me in the evening).

She'll have a large double room plus sole use of the 'playroom' with sky tv / wifi etc in the evenings but will need to share a bathroom.

We live in a popular part of SW London but aren't offering any other perks (eg travelcard / phone / language course) because it doesn't really apply in her case.

How much would you pay per week please? And would this include any babysitting or would that be an hourly rate on top?

Would be so grateful for any responses as I'm struggling to find any answers online!

Thank you

I can't advise on pay as I'm no longer in the UK and am out of touch.

But ... is there any particular reason you want an English au pair? How easy/difficult would it be to recruit an 18-year old English girl to work those hours?

Just wondering, as I've never really heard of that.

Not at all, I'd be happy with any kind of au pair but this is a specific girl I'm talking about who happens to be 18 and English! Sorry I didn't explain very well!

Anybody got a rough idea?

About £70-£100 per week and it includes 2 night of baby-sitting a week.
I think most local people here pay about £80.

Sorry should have added the area is SW suburban London.

Thanks Red

Final bump for anyone else who might be able to give me a guide price? Hoping to finalise arrangements with the girl in question tonight!
Thank you

I used to get £160 a week, before/after school, 2 nights babysitting and the occasional during the day. I'm an English speaker, so they preferred to pay more for the English. I then paid all my own expenses during the week!

Did you live in Nanny (ie by expenses do you mean food etc)? Thanks

We are in SW London and pay £80 pw plus half language lessons at Tooting college.

Ah, that makes sense, Mogwai! :)

I wouldn't be looking to go too much below £80.

It's 4 years since we were in London with an au pair, ours worked 9-6 Mon-Fri with a one-hour lunch break (I worked from home), so 40 hours if my maths is correct, and two nights' baby-sitting (although we rarely used both nights). We paid £180 then, plus she got food and board.

She's not really an au pair if she's British as its meant to be a cultural exchange. I would pay min wage minus the accom allowance which is about £90, give a travel card and pay extra (£5/hour for babysitting).

Think u should buy a monthly buss pass too

£120 including one weekday evening babysitting and one weekend evening babysitting. Plus extra £10 a week for ironing a full basket. Plus extra £15 a week for 3 hours cleaning.

I would pay by hour as it wouldn't be an au pair situation. You can pay minimum wage. I would then pay £6 hour babysitting on top. The amount you can 'deduct' for accomodation is quite low. HERE IS THE INFO from UK.Gov on minimum wage and deductions.

Thanks all, v v helpful.
As Karo says, the min wage minus the standard accommodation rate gets me to £90 per week which is roughly what I had in mind and what bbkl pays for a similar arrangement.
I really don't think she'd need a bus pass as everything is on our doorstep including all DS's activities plus pubs, restaurants, gyms, parks, cinema, shopping etc for her days off.
But maybe I could offer a different perk for the same value as I don't want to short change her!

My guess is that she would prefer more cash rather than an extra perk.

Footie, if the girl is living as apart of the family, sharing family life then it matters not a jot if she is British or foreign, she will still count as an au pair. Minimum wage therefore does not apply, but paid holidays, and parts of the working time directive do (some exclusions around breaks, but not about overall hours worked generally).

OP, it is best to stick below £100 a week because just above that level you need to start registering for tax, NI, etc

By the way, IIRC, sharing family meals is one of the key criteria for being part of family life, as is whether they are invited to join in on family occasions/trips, etc, as part of the family. something to always bear in mind in working out difference between au pair and nanny.

Thanks Squiffy. She's definitely going to be a proper part of our family as she's only 18.
It's a 6 month period to begin with (with potential to extend by mutual agreement) and she has one week of holiday booked so do I still pay her for that week she is off?

squiffy - you're not right. This is how the government defines and au pair most of them have to apply and most can't if she's British.

www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law

That site is, unfortunately, not an accurate reflection of current case law. It's a reflection of what the Au Pair agencies' representative body wishes the law was....

That aside a British national will be seen as employed with all the rights that come with it, and the regulations around living as part od the family making them exempt from minimum wage apply.

I know the legislation on pay and definitions is, um, a bit strange but I would still base the pay on minimum wage minus the nominal accommodation deduction.

I think its unfair to pay any less to someone who is not what is typically thought of as an au pair. It's exploitive to pay less in my opinion.

I really hope the legislation regarding this is tightened up.

Koreleann, the uk gov at the moment is trying to ignore EU rulings on the matter, despite knowing that EU trumps UK in this respect. The definitions were set out a couple of years back, but the UK is still not applying the EU ruling.

The only reason they are still trying to push this no-mans land is because there hasn't yet been a case covering this for the uk since they set out this definition - as soon as there is, the European courts will - I expect - come down hard on the UK for trying to ignore the European court of appeal.

If you do an advanced search on this you will find a large number of threads discussing this. Include 'Turkish' in the search because the European court ruling that au pairs are workers is given in a case involving Turkish nationals in Europe.

Most employment lawyers get very fidgety in this area and will advise hosts to treat as a worker, living in the home, subject to normal Employment legislation, but with some caveats that apply for (a) care work and (b) living as part of a family. These clauses allow for certain dispensations with regard to (a) rest breaks rules and (b) minimum wage rules.