Our friends' daughter is looking for flexible jobs in her gap year - this coincides with our need for some childcare. We thought it would be great to have her as an au pair but looking into it, it seems that au pairs have to be foreign nationals who are here on an exchange basis.
So with that in mind, does that mean we would have to employ her instead? If that's the case I need to work out if it's financially viable whilst still fair to her. My understanding is that if she earns under a threshold we wouldn't need to register with HMRC but would we still be required to provide eg maternity pay if she got pregnant?
The duties would be primarily caring for a 4yo but with some school pickups for an 8yo as well. We would provide accommodation and she would be considered part of the family ie sharing meals. If she were a true au pair we'd be looking at ca £100 a week pocket money, but I imagine if she's employed we'd have to pay at least the minimum wage (albeit with an allowance for accommodation). Is minimum wage fair for this kind of work?
Sorry, so many questions!