Getting a new au-pair - do you really need a contract?

[Koumak]

I have had 2 au-pairs but never actually had contract in the past.
Is it really necessary & what does it mean for me?
I mean is there £min or max (tax etc.), or redundancy or even maternity, I wouldve thought holidays and obviously duties?
Nowadays do they come with some sort of certificate?
Please talk me through it!

No doubt it would be more of an issue for the au pair if they expected to be part of the family and then weren't able to participate at all. However it can be an issued for the family too - if the AP does not want to spend her free time with you you can hardly force her. Otherwise you are going to have a sulky teenager on your hands and possibly a ruined day for everyone.

Absolutely agree - although I always steer clear of teenagers anyway..!

Couple of points:

@Mingg I am no expert on European law and I am not sure what published source is authoritative: my information about the signatories to ETS No. 68 is taken from another Council of Europe document, the report on Domestic slavery: servitude, au pairs and mail-order brides of 2004. I reason that if the Council does not know who has signed up to its own treaties, they can't have much effect anyway!

@Mingg your point about 'marginal and ancilliary' is a good one, although it is clear that in the vast majority of au pair placements the work does not fall into this category.

It is my understanding that the national minimum wage does not apply to au pairs, not because of the accommodation offset but because of an exemption for au pairs and nannies who are 'treated as a member of the family', however I have just looked at the NMWA and the relevent amending SIs and I cannot see this provision anywhere, however it is quoted on all the government sites (BERR, DirectGov, Business Link etc.) - I would be interested to know the source of this law.

Most English employment statutes now apply to 'workers' which are defined in the statutes more widely than employees, so the argument about employment status is somewhat academic anyway - whether au pairs are employees or not, they still get the same rights as employees.

What about the useless mumsnetters who decide to comment stupidities on a post dating from 2010 ( !!!) to wish death open Au Pairs, should they be shot too ?

upon Au pairs*

Government website states that au pairs are not generally employees, and so not entitled to, for example, the national minimum wage or paid holidays -

www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/nannies

www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/au-pairs