Au Pairs - legal requirements /holidays?

[FeatheredHeart]

I've just been asked about holidays by an au pair applicant. I'd like to know what the law says and also whether you pay your au pairs holidays?

Bestbear.co.uk says "Au pairs tend to stay for six months and this usually means the employer does not give them a paid holiday - the rationale being that the au pair only worked part time. However, if the au pair stays here for longer there is a case for the employer to give them paid and perhaps some unpaid holiday. "

I know there was recent discussion about what the legal requirements are (e,g, 28 days/ year or pro-rated) but I can't find any or even any guidelines under the Home Office (Border Agency).

Can anyone point me to where these legal requirements are on a .gov site?

Gross misconduct on the part of the au pair includes but is not limited to:
? any arrestable offence;
? possession of or being under the influence of controlled substances (?drugs?);
? drink driving (or reasonable suspicion of);
? any violence (however minor) towards the children; and
? actions which could endanger or cause harm to the children.

Thank you!

I have couple of issues with these, and as it looks as though we might be working towards a document that could be used by many people I am going to offer what I hope is constructive criticism.

'any arrestable offence' - what does this mean? Committing an arrestable offence? Being arrested on suspicion of committing an offence of which you may in fact be innocent? Having an historical conviction for an arrestable offence which may be spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act? In any case, changes in the law have made the term 'arrestable offence' open to misinterpretation and the term 'indictable offence' more certain.

You should write 'illegally possessing or being under the influence of any controlled substance (?drugs?)', otherwise it is a bit tough if she has been prescribed eg Codeine for migranes.

But the one you have missed out which is really important (because, unlike the others, an Employment Tribunal could well disagree with you that the action was sufficiently serious to merit summary dismissal) is breach of confidence in relation to the affairs of the family.

Similarly, if you want 'ever smoking anywhere' to warrant summary dismissal, you should include that.

Basically, you only need to spell out in the contract things which the employee wouldn't otherwise reasonably expect be summarily dismissed for.

MrA thanks for that, very helpful, my ever evolving contract has been duly updated.