Au Pair World-talk me through it

[Racecardriver]

We’ve decided to take the plunge and welcome an au pair into our home. After reading a bunch of threads I’ve decided that APW is the way to go (or am I wrong?). We’ve created a profile and had some applications but now what? I assume we need to pay for the premium membership? But which option (the website offers three)? What about vetting our au pairs? How does that work? Do we need to sort out their visas or is that their job? Do we wrote an au pair agreement ourselves? I’m feeling a bit lost in all this and wondering whether I should just use an agency.

Yes, you need to pay for premium membership. One month is usually fine, but it depends when you are recruiting for. You can always extend for a further month if necessary.
If you search on here there are links to questions. You need to be clear about the duties and responsibilities. Ask about their food preferences, hobbies, experience with children, follow up personal references and have a skype call with those who fit the bill.
There is lots of help on APW.

I've only ever recruited from EU so no visa required (goodness knows what will happen post-Brexit!) I wouldn't recommend hiring from further away as it will be expensive for them to get home if it doesn't work out and more risk of homesickness etc.

This new feature may be helpful for you to look at too: www.aupairworld.com/en/blog/aupairworld-family-handbook

I have had great success with APW, but I find it's better to recruit as early as possible. Also, be open to shorter placements.

Note that if you are a UK family, technically you can only take girls from the EU and a very limited number of other countries. That does not include America (unless they hold a British or EU passport): www.aupairworld.com/en/au_pair_program/uk/family/regulations

Keep a spreadsheet / notes when you do Skype interviews as you will get confused between the girls - believe me!!

Also, if it is important to you that the girl stays for the full time period, you could say you will pay a bonus at the end if they complete the full year (or however long you are asking them to stay).

In the UK, there is no requirement for a contract and there is no government approved standard form contract. There is an EU one (available to download from APW), but lots of it is irrelevant, so you would have to score a lot of clauses out. I am a solicitor and have never bothered with having a contract because it's not really enforceable anyway. It does help to have a document that sets out hours and all important terms though so there are no misunderstandings.

If your girl is from the EU, make sure she gets the equivalent of an EHIC card to entitle her to free health care here. With a Tier 5 Youth Mobility visa (if she is from Australia), I think they have health insurance included or it makes use of the reciprocal health care arrangement between the UK/Aus (I can't remember exactly.

Yes, with a tier 5 visa they pay towards the cost if any health care before the arrive, so they can utilise the NHS. You can take people from Australia, New Zealand, Canada. (Plus another couple of countries that you don’t tend to get au pairs from).