Au pair for the summer, help for a novice please

[DelGirl]

OK, just thought about it today though have previously. I am a lone parent of one dd 5. We are moving to Italy at the beginning of September. Obviously I have lots to do leading up to it and the summer hols are looming. So had an idea to take on an au-pair for the summer. I happened to have seen a couple on au-pair.com who fir the bill. One in particular wants to stay in England just for the duration of the uk summer hols which would be perfect.

It says to pay a min of 240 euro per month. I can't find on the site anything about taxes. I know it would be all found as in bed & board but what other things should I consider? They pay their own travel.
Posted again as title missing off other thread!

Any advice or happen to know an au=pair who might like to stay on the south coast for the summer?

btw, I've had foreign students here in the past and they've all said what a lovely time they've had

We have one now who we found on aupairworld, she's been here 2wks (only here till mid August) and its going well so far. We pay here £55 a week, not sure how that works in euros. Apparently, when I searched on here before, they are paid too little to interest the tax man
I think getting an Italian is a great idea.

www.aupairworld.net is a good site.

Generally au pairs are paid £65-£85 a week for around 25 hours work with two days off - tends to be less in London and big cities that are very popular, more in rural areas where you may need to pay more to attract candidates.

As you're paying under £100 a week you don't need to worry about tax or registering as an employer. You should put together a simple contract though outlining hours, duties, pay etc.

thank you both, I'll have to act quickly I think but it could be good for all of us

I would contact Millenium Aupairs www.millenniumaupairs.co.uk/
We used them and they were great, the online application is quick, thy matched us with 10 possibles, we narrowed it down to 4 great ones and one started last week.
So far (as a novice) I cannot fault them or the Au pair they provided.
We pay 85 for an aupair plus (5 hours more per week) and the agncy fee was 95 plus vat.
Good luck - best decision we ever made!

thanks. I think actually I will only need one for max 6 weeks, assuming they come here in the next 2, which is probably very unlikely, but it seems there are some who only want a short stop.

I assume that is 85 per week or is that Euros?

The demi au pair job recommended a wage of 160 euro per month

What country are you in? Remember the cost of living is higher in the UK than many European countries. For 20 hours a week I would think you'd still be looking at around £60 a week.

In England at the mo. When I put my details that is what it came up with but I don't intend on paying the bare minimum. £60 per week sounds ok, thanks

stoppingat3, there aren't any on that site that suit. In fact there are only 2 from Italy. Thanks though

DelGirl it also depends where you are in the UK as too how much pay is here in Bershire 25 hours per week the norm is £70 and 35 hours £90. So it could be worth talking to an agency if only to get the gist of what your local pay rates are, because as soon as your AP meets other APs the first thing they discuss is what they get paid. An underpaid AP is generally a very sulky AP.
Also don't forget the hidden costs feeding another AP, they will use extra electric particularly wash very small loads of their own clothes and always use the tumble drier because it's easier.
I m sorry this is very negative I have had several lovely APs, but I think it is very easy to not realise these hidden costs. I think including everything an AP costs around £150 to £200 per week which is still very good value, but quite a bit more than just the pay.

In Kent it is £65 for 25 hours and £80 for 30 hours.

Whilst demi-ap sounds good I would doubt you will find anyone willing to do such short hours - every AP I have ever had wants to do more hours not less..

Hi
I hosted an aupair.
If I may I would like to share my aupair experience with you. You can use the aupair agency from Almondbury www.aupair-agency.com They found us a perfect girl, quickly and easily. She was really nice and she enjoyed her stay as much as we enjoyed having her with us.

Nathalie

I get my au pairs through au pair world - you can put in preferences so age and nationality for exapmle and there are usually hundreds who fit the bill. I then email a few with more details about us and find out more about them and then choose a few to speak to on the phone and so far this has worked - number four au pair coming next week!
I pay £80 a week for 30 hours and 2 evenings babysitting. I agree that there are other costs to consider but personally would not rack this up to being anymore than an additional £30 a week espsecially over the summer. Perhpas I have been lucky that most au pairs seem to be on a diet! We are also south coast.
We just had a lovely Italian - make sure she knows you wnat her to speak to DD in Italian, non of mine seem to have been keen to pass on their mother tongue as too busy learning English! I think that your time scales will be fine, as a rule I have found that they are willing to be flexible to get a position.

Well I have 2 really interested at the mo.

One of them, we have emailed each other about 6 times already and she is coming over to the uk at the end of next week to stay with a friend an hour from me. My gut feeling is that she will be ideal and she definitely wants to do 'tandem linguistics' as she called it so she will help me and dd with Italian and I will help her. Where I live there are loads of language schools so she is going to see if there is a course she can do but only if it fits in with me (her words not mine).

Cost wise, I realise there are food and utilty etc but tbh I don't think it will make a huge difference, maybe bump it up to £100 a week max, we've agreed on £60 which she seems more than happy with. I pay sitters upwards of £20 once or twice a week so i'm half way there plus I get some housework into the bargain and language tuition. Can you see the way this is going lol

There might be lots of language schools but ones that are affordable i.e. regional colleges will close in the summer holidays anyway and she won't get into a class just for a couple weeks in July before they close. If she has plenty of money then she may be able to book some intensive courses. Many of these in the summer are more like a full-time week of English rather than a few hours here and there though.

I'd also not be surprised that if she has a friend an hour away, you mayhave to make contingencies in case you are gazumped by a damily who lives much closer to her friend.

I meant family of course rather than damily..

thanks Treesa. Judging from what she has said I don't think money is an issue for her. (she is 27) She would be here for about 5 weeks and I see what you're saying about someone closer but think the chances are very slim. If it does happen, it won't be the end of the world as I don't work, it's just for a little help .

She is studying languages at uni in Italy so I think it's just an add on.

I don't quite know what to do now. I've only emailed her and one other who I have now decided wouldn't be right. Strong gut instinct. This one does seem right but my head is saying I should speak to alot more people before I decide. Any advice?? Should I go with my gut instinct (i'm always being told I should). Going to chat with her on msn today.

it seems I have an au pair . Just waiting for refs from her university and she will be here a week on Sunday. O M G. Been chatting on MSN for the last 2 hours yay

I told her that dd talks alot so be prepared. She said thats ok, does she talk in her sleep too? I think she thought they'd be sharing a bedroom

Congrats DelGirl! If it all goes wrong it's only 5 weeks anyway - it's not like you've committed to a year together.

still chatting with her so have achieved zilch at home anyway. She has exams tomorrow so have told her she must study!! She said, yes mum she is 27, I am 44 lol!!