can you employ an au-pair and pay less?

[skuzy]

I'm thinking of employing an AP but only need her to work about 15 hours per week. I would therefore like to pay less money, say £35 pound per week. Does anyone know if it's ok to pay less that the standard £55 per week?
Also, do you pay extra for the two nights babysitting? Or is that included in the main deal.
Thanks!

If you can get someone to take it on on that basis then it is not a problem (it is not covered by minimum wage regs), but you need to think whether it is feasible for someone to live on that. Are you expecting them to take on another job? In any event you will still be cooking for them and providing board and lodging so don't forget that there is a cost there.

Depending on where they are coming from they may not be allowed to legally take a job so you have to consider the ethical side as well.

The job you describe is a demipair.

ok.... if you were a person wanting to come to this country to improve your english, and choose to live with a family in exchange for doing a few hours 'work' and time off to attned language school etc could you live on £35 per week?

I think it would be very unfair on the au pair actually.... even if they agreed to it they may niavly assume they could live on it.... then find that the friends they make at college are doing things and they cant becuase they havnt got enough money.

IMO that is a pretty unfair position to put a young student in!.... they will also soon find out they are earning far less than all of their new friends and will probably want a job that pays more.

Thats just my opinion, but i honestly think it would be putting the au pair in a very awkward position and tbh i dont think thats fair at all

I think it's up to the girl to decide if she wants to accept it. It would be a fine position for someone with another job.

You certainly see adverts on Gumtree from girls offering themselves for this kind of position.

Instead of paying out £100 a week for rent, they are getting roof and board, plus a bit of pocket money. It's not a bad deal.

£55 a week for an aupair classique is too low, imo.

But NannyL, the main benefit to the aupair is free board and lodging (round here worth at least £200-£250 a week). If the aupair has an extra 10 hours to do some work elsewhere (eg cleaning or ironing or babysitting) then they may end up better off.

Details about Aupair Scheme
"helps in the home for up to five hours a day"
Fee for Visa: £200

I would suspect that it is up to you what you pay, and what you expect in return for that payment. If you offer too low a fee, then aupairs may not be interested in your job, in the same way they may not be interested in your job based on your location.

£200 has nothing to do with au pair pocket money. That is a fee to the govt for a visa for those living in countries within the aupair programme.

The vast majority of aupairs come from EU countries, and so do not need to go through the Home Office.

£70 for 25 hours a week is a pretty typical pocket money.

but ladymuck she still needs to have a life herself...

could you live on £35 per week? especially in a foreign country?

IMO its no way enough money for anyone to ahve has spending money in 2007... therfore will lead to unhappy au pair, who will then leave and then more stress for you trying to replace her

If £70 is typical for 25 hours, then around £40 would be fine for 15 hours... would it not?

Yes, I put "Fee for Visa: £200" which is nothing to do with pocket money, it's to do with getting into this country, if the person requires a visa. Someone would have to pay for that... so it may or may not be an added cost to the aupair (or I expect employer could pay it).

She's not living on £35, even if that were her only source of income. Her food is all provided!

A demipair is not a suitable sole job. It is a fine thing to do when you have another job, or are a student on a degree course, when you would otherwise have to pay for food and lodgings.

The aupair was asking if this situation were feasible, and the answer is yes it is. There are girls who actively seek this type of work.

Aupairs pay their own visa fees, as well as the cost of their flight to the UK.

but £35 would only just coevr 1 night out... what about phone call back to her country, lunches with her friend etc.... the things au pairs do

whats she supposed to do with all ehr time off with no £ to spend?

I personally do not think £35 a week is enough for 'student' to survive happily on!... and if not happy they will leave

Sometimes I feel like I am living in a parallel universe.

There are many people in this country (including many mumsnets members I suspect) who don't have £70 per week, yet alone £35 per week to spend on entertainment, going out etc.

Therefore I think it will depend on what costs the aupair has to pay for - if all costs are covered and the pocket money is purely for entertainment/going out, then it's better than nothing. If the au-pair needs to pay for travel to/from college, then the money may not go far.

Would say that she can only take other work as someone suggested if you are prepared to set down exactly when you need her. If she is expected to be flexible to suit your needs then she will be unable to supplement what you pay.

And £35 a week is not enough to have any kind of life.

I think it sounds fine - on the plus side you point out to the au pair you're quite happy for her to have another job to up her income.

Au pairs leave for reasons other than financial issues - it takes more than money to make a job a good one imo.

When I was nannying I worked for families who didn't have much cash (I suspect I ended up with more disposable income than some of my bosses) and I stayed in the job because it was a great job, even though I could have earned more elsewhere.

It ain't all about the money.

the problem will be when she realises her friends have more £ and can do things that she cant do she will resent her job and look for another job IMO

Just doing a quick google on demi pair, and it is really popular in Australia. The arrangement there is to get room and board in exchange for 15 hours a week - there is no pocket money at all, let alone £35 per week.

When foreign students come here for full-time degree courses, their families have to pay the cost of their course and living expenses, some of which can be offset by working up to 20 hours per week - much the same as home students, really.

By living with a family and doing some work for them, you can save yourself the cost of accomodation and food.

Or not, NannyL.

Maybe she'll be quite enterprising and get herself a cleaning round. Maybe she'll have a rich uncle subsidising her. Maybe she'll be introverted and lazy and not want to go out. Maybe she'll only make friends with poor people and find that £35 goes a long way. Maybe she'll donate £30 week to the church.

I think you're supposing an awful lot - we can't know what will happen.

skuzy put an ad up somewhere. Make it clear the pocket money reflects the hours but you're happy for the au pair to take on other work. That in itself might be a plus. Some au pairs find themselves in a job where the family won't let them babysit elsewhere.

Where do you live?

It's perfectly possible Skuzy...put an ad on gumtree!
FGS NannyL....we know £35 a week is not much, but If I had that every week just to spend on me..no mortgage, car, petrol, phone, food I'd be over the bl**dy moon and according to my accountant I'm meant to be doing all right!

Not to mention the hours required here are not even half a job in my book. I can't understand why you are working to the assumption that £35 would be her total income each week. I mean if she works in the morning she'll be finished before lunch time.

Skuzy, If you know someone who lives near you and wanted a regular babysitter (say someone who wants to go to the gym every wednesday) or some cleaning etc., I would think they could easily fill in say another £50/week. Perhaps someone who doesn't have a spare bedroom for live-in help. The only thing I would suggest is to make sure they don't pay her a higher hourly rate than you do or she won't want to take your babysitting jobs.

The aupair I used to have was in a similar role, ( lived with an old lady and got her breakfast and diner, that was all ) she also ended up earning at least £100 a week cleaning that I know of, and also a lot of babysitting on top. She had far more money to spend than we did!

skuzy, but of course. Scaryscience is right. There will be an aupair who will want this position. It all depends on their circumstances.

During the interview, I would be careful to probe how the ap is going to finance her stay here and what she intends to do with her free time: £35 per week being rather low and so you want to make sure she has the right expectations and understanding of cost-of-living.

Her profile would probably be someone who wants a lot of free time to pursue her own interests (eg student who was looking to subsidise her costs with ap job) or with some saved up income of her own and is more interested in the experience of living in UK. Or who wants to take on other jobs in her free time.

The hours for which you require should facilitate this. Eg if the 3 hours per day were at either end of the day rather than stuck in the middle. Within a predictable day, rather than a fluid arrangement.

As for your question about babysitting, 2 nights babysitting is included in the classic 25h per week aupair. In your case, because you are only paying for 15 hours, you can try asking for 1 night babysitting and paying her extra for more on an adhoc basis.

I think you have to work out the pocket money/tariff very carefully. I'm leaning on thinking that room & board plus £35 is a lot for 15 hours.

Say you were to consider that £6 an hour is a reasonable wage (ie 10% over the minimum wage), then 15 hours would equate to £90 a week - round it up to £100 for the sake of easy accounting.

How much is the room and utilities worth if you were to rent it out? How much food could she eat? I think this would be well over £100, although it depends on where you live. The food alone could be £50.

What do you want the aupair to do for you, Skuzy? Is it school runs, in home childcare, or cleaning?

Thank you all so much for this info!! I really appreciate all your responses.
I need the ap to collect my son from school everyday and clean the house once a week. I obviously can't be flexible on my sons collection from school but can be on the cleaning. I'm more than happy for the AP to have another job.
I'm in two minds about what to do. I can either look for another job to reduce my hours so I can collect my son and do the cleaning myself and also rent the room. I reckon I could rent the room for £250 to £300 per month (excluding food of course). Or I could take on the AP.

I think I will have a browse on gumtree.