£90 pay per week for Au pair but they have been also asking for English course, bus pass, car use, gym subsciption.. what to do?

[meadowquark]

I am currently recruiting an Au pair. My advert says £90 per week plus free sim plus car/bike use if wanted. The position is a standard of 25 hours (more 20 hours to be precise), does not require driving and is in London zone 4. Various au pairs so far have been asking, can they drive? (cost of additional drive), can I buy gym subscription (£45/month), travel card (£66-£150/month), also can I pay for English classes? (£60+/month)

I don't know where to draw the line and where to say yes or no.
Anyone with experience please??

TIA!

Personally, I wouldn't be ok with accepting someone who is already asking for more, my ap has delusions of grandeur.
IMO why do u need to offer all the extras?

Blimey, I have never hired an au pair, but would be put off by someone asking for gym membership etc. Seems very cheeky. In London, where, lets face it, driving is a lot scarier than in other areas of the country, I would perhaps include a set amount on an Oyster card each week or month, but extra they can pay themselves from their £90 a week. If your food, accommodation and bills are already provided, £90 a week seems a decent amount of money to live on.

I personally would be scared to cycle in London as it is so busy, hence the Oyster card suggestion.

I personally would be scared to cycle in London as it is so busy, hence the Oyster card suggestion.

I think that offering something else is a nice gesture, maybe a bus pass? Or a certain amount on Oyster prepay per month? But all of those things - no.

This would start to make me wary. £90 is a lot of disposable cash per week for a young person (imo). An oyster card contribution I would consider, if this makes big difference to their ability to have social life.

For comparison - we are NOT London - small city where home is walkable to town, classes, pool etc. For a 25 hour au pair we offer:
£60 week
£10 / month phone credit
Language class registration fee £50 / term
Swimming pool membership - £25 / month but no au pair has actually taken us up on it yet (3 au pairs to date)
Young persons railcard
Free use of home wifi
Bike, but no use of car
Use of any sports kit, camping kit etc that we have
Plus of course all food

Surely it depends on what you can afford, and whether you can recruit someone suitable without offering all the extras.

If you can't afford the extras, you can't offer them.

If can afford it, and find that you aren't able to attract quality candidates without offering extras, then you'll have to revise your offer.

Ok understood. Btw if one of the candidates is asking to find him English classes in the area, I don't assume he is asking to pay for it?
Oh there was another asking for a big TV to play with his Xbox.

I can't really afford all of that but also trying not to look as Mr. Scrudge..
ideally I would like to offer (for a nice person and as a complimentary, not compulsory) £90 week + £30 for Oyster top up (month) + £10 phone (month). Would be logical. But perhaps a bit too much. Perhaps I should not have offered £90 / week then.

They sound really cheeky! IMO you have stated your offer they can take it or leave it and not ask for loads of extras, though if I was the au pair I would definitely appreciate an Oyster card contribution as that would make the biggest difference. Pay as you go on oyster can practically burn through money especially from zone 4 and a travel card costs loads. I pay about £110 for a zone 1-2 travel card per month, not sure how much from zone 4 but it would eat into the £90/week quite significantly.

Personally I would be offering oyster travel card. Zone 4 you aren't going to want them driving into Central London, plus they are surely going to need to use the bus and tube at some point whilst caring for your children so Half work expense also

I would also pay for phone credit each month as would want them to be able to contact in emergency. Frankly in London anything can happen. Delays/ accidents etc esp wen with children

£90 money
1-4 weekly bus pass? If buses ok compared to tube £30 a week at guess - essential in London imo
£15 per month phone contract for work. That will be unlimited calls with some networks so always contactable

I would maybe offer to refund 1/2 English class fees at the end if they stick with them

With monthly bus pass of £66 and monthly phone contract the cost of au pair becomes £120 week. I am not sure if I can afford it to be honest...
Au pair does not need to use public transport with the kids..

Can you lower the pocket money slightly (to say, £80pw) and offer an oyster and cheapy phone contract (giff gaff £10pm sim is unlimited on texts and 500mins calls and is a rolling monthly one)? Some families do offer gym and whatnot but that's up to them, not everybody does. Phone and bus pass is pretty standard to offer though, and occasionally the English classes though I see it less and less now.

I think 90 plus 'perks' is standard tbh. Not all of those perks, but bus pass/oyster top-up/travel card and a phone is a standard offer. Many offer gym etc. as well. You'll have to see what you can get offering the bare 90, as with all jobs the best offers attract the best candidates. If someone has a few offers, they'll take the one with the beat package.

Maybe think about things you cab offer that don't cost anything. Extra holiday? Opportunity for extra work with family/neighbours? Do you have any passes for e.g NT that they could use?

English lessons and travelcard are normal imo. How are you expecting her/him to get around with your dc ? FE colleges are a good source of ESOL classes but they will cost and many won't now start until September.

Bare in mind that an average nanny in comparison will be earning more than £120 a day in same area , so decent would be au pairs with experience will be going for the lower paid nanny jobs instead. £10 gross per 12 hr shift. Low for area, but high for au pair. Experienced nannies £12-15 gross per hr.

So the au pairs can generally request extras and get them as anything under £150 is a bargain for location and 25hrs care. Especially if more than one child.

I would reconsider if you can change hours etc if £120 a week isn't fees able. Even after school club x2 children will be that a week.

Childcare is just so expensive, whereabouts in zone 4 are you.

You need to do an Oyster card IMO cos you live in London.

Certainly not gym membership or anything like that.

I know the au pair may not need to take public transport with the children but £20pw on an oyster would be nice for them.

You're trusting this person with your children remember.

Hmm.. strange. I rarely see someone on MN paying more than £85 to be honest. Bus pass would be for au-pair's own get about during free hours. I am in South London.

You know I want to pay what is considered a fair rate but just to make sure that based on other people's experiences I do not "overpay" - and this is not with comparison with nannies! My average candidate is inexperienced male Spanish guy.

I am kind of disappointed with my self now. Everyone was saying £85 per week is average, and now if I ought to offer phone and travelcard and English classes then it is becoming much more expensive than a regular out of school care - I need to reconsider.

Mumsnet is probably not your best guide. You should look at ads for au pairs in your area and see what is being offered.

You may find that your average candidate is inexperienced because you're offering at the lower end. The ones with great experience and good English are taking the zone 1/2 jobs that come with the perks!

Where are you looking for an finding your au pairs?

Yes you should pay for English lessons and an oyster . You are getting very very cheap childcare.

No, I wouldn't pay for English classes, the people I know of who paid for them found the au pairs ended up not going regularly. I think they value the classes more if they pay for them themselves.

We pay gym membership - it gives the au pair somewhere to go and gets them out of the house, keeps them healthier and my current au pair met a couple of ice friends there.

We also pay for use of a car - BUT we live in a little village outside London. I used to live in London however, and I would not want an au pair driving there, its too dangerous, expensive, even with a sat nav, navigating is difficult. I would just absorb the cost of a travel card.

We don't pay phone top up either - most young people are going to be on their phone constantly anyway! They're likely to keep it topped up.

I think £120/week is pretty reasonable for £25hours work. That's £5.hour, nannies would want at least £10/hour and then you're also liable for tax etc. You also get a huge amount more flexibility than you would with a nanny, although you're obviously not getting the experience.

Thank you. I have decided to offer 10 rolling giffgaff contract and 10 weekly Oyster top up having in mind that my au pair really does not need to use public transport with the kids. I will find info about English classes but won't pay for those. I simply cannot afford it.
I may have done a stupid thing but I have also offered extra pay 4 per hour for unscheduled childcare (if a child is sick and he is willing to help out).

I am looking at Au pair world, specifically for a male Au pair, as I have two boys.