Our au pair has just put me into an awkward situation with her expenses and I am looking for opinions on how to handle this.
She just presented me with a list of expenses she wants reimbursed. This includes a roughly £50 bill from IKEA for items for her room (although some of those expenses she put down as 'optional'). Last weekend she went to IKEA and bought things for her room including hangers, picture frames, storage boxes, jars etc. She now asked if I could reimburse her for them.
Now she never discussed this with me before her trip there. I didn't even know she had gone to IKEA until she was already back home. Had she asked for some of the items beforehand she would have found out that we already have them around the house and I could have just given them to her. Also, a lot of the items are non-essentials - she already has a few book shelves and a book case as well as a big chest of drawers to store her things, so those storage boxes are not strictly necessary. She argued that it will be something that one could always find use for in a household therefore I should pay for them - obviously the stuff is too bulky to take back home when she leaves so I guess she expects to leave them here.
To be fair, I did mention when she first started that she should let me know if she needs stuff for her room and we will provide within reason. I remember our previous au pair asked for a laundry basket and a bin which we then bought for him. But this did not mean she should just go off to IKEA and buy lots of things and expect me to reimburse afterwards without even discussing with me first!
I did say to her she should have discussed with me beforehand, but left it open if I will pay for them. Because I honestly don't know if I should! On the one hand I would like her to feel at home in her room and would feel mean not to pay, on the other hand she never discussed this with me before making the purchases and just went ahead and did it. I would not do that in my job, all major expenses have to be approved first before they are made!
Also this month we will have lots of expenses with car insurance renewal coming up as well as xmas expenses, so I am not exactly swimming in cash..
We pay her £100 per week which is pretty standard around here. On top of this I got her babysitting jobs at 3-4 local families so given this is all pure spending money I think she is doing ok financially. Although I guess this is beside the point.
Opinions please! Thanks so much