where to start - first au pair

[lokijet]

Im a single parent and am looking at getting an au pair to assist with my 9 year old son in Sept.

I am really looking for help before and after school -usually 7.30 - 8.50 then 4pm - 7pm on the days I work (tues/wed/thurs). While I sometimes need to be away overnight my mum would come and stay on these nights. Does this seem reasonable?

I live in Harrogate in Yorkshire and within walking distance of school and the town centre - while its very pretty and regularly wins best place to live type accolades Im guessing it won't have the same draw as London or other major cities

How do most of you find au pairs - agency etc? and are they always EU or has anyone had au pairs from other countries eg NZ or canada?

All guidance welcome

That sounds very reasonable for an au pair. Set up a profile on aupair world. There is lots of good guidance there.

I've only ever had EU citizens to avoid issues with visas etc.

I used au pairs for drop offs and pick ups only so they had plenty of free time so use of a car, gym membership, language courses were useful to ours.

Does the aupair pay for his/her own English courses?

I need 17 hours per week covered, but some weeks I work long hours and have to leave for work at 5am so the aupair would be responsible for getting the children up and getting them to school. I wonder how to work out extra pay for the extra hours of responsibility..

I just had a chat with a potential aupairp

It depends on the overall package you are offering. In my area, English courses are free for EU citizens at the moment.

17 hours per week is fine, but you will need to be clear about the early mornings and perhaps pay a bit extra to attract the right candidate.

I've got an au pair and wouldn't/don't pay extra for early morning responsibilities. I leave for work 7am and my au pair wakes up at 7.30am, gets ready then wakes up the kids. Even though she/the kids are sleeping I still count these as working hours as she is responsible from the moment I leave the house.

As long as you are clear about the responsibilities before they accept the offer and that the total number of hours is within the typical au pair role ie ~25 horus per week then most au pairs won't have an issue with this.

It is not as though the au pair will need to wake up at 5am (unless your child wakes up this early?).

That's fine. Au pairs usually do drop off, I'd also ask them to come back afterwards and do a few house related jobs, a lot of au pairs can't manage the tidying aspect at the same time as the looking after aspect. So just getting them to come back and tidy up after breakfast, wipe kitchen surfaces etc, put some of your son's washing on etc.

The fact that they'll have have 2 full days free during the week and weekends and that you only have one child will be a big plus point. I would make sure that they understand that if they get a second job needs to be classed as such and keep a copy of a salary slip as proof that it is classed as their second job.

We've had an Australian au pair before, the Visa situation is a little more complicated but not much.

www.gov.uk/tier-5-youth-mobility