An au-pair will typically be a young woman, or a young man from another country, who is accepted into to the host family as an extended family member – an elder brother or sister. She or he lives with the host family for up to one year and helps the family with childcare and doing light housework for 30 hours a week. You go abroad in order to study language and to get to know the country.
Thus, an au-pair is not a servant. The tasks for an au-pair
The tasks for an au-pair to perform vary widely. First of all, they depend on the needs, habits and way of life of the host family. They are determined individually between a host family and an au-pair and are fixed in terms of the treaty. In most cases, assistance, first of all, includes childcare and housework.
Requirements for an au-pair are the following:
age between 18-25;
basic knowledge of the spoken foreign language and the desire to study it;
ability to work with children and help with the housework;
absence of his/her own children;
absence of chronic infectious diseases;
If moreover you love children, if you are an honest, reliable, responsible and cheerful person, then you have all the necessary prerequisites for being a good au-pair.
The family covenants to provide an au-pair with the following:
a separate room;
feeding with the family and using the same foodstuffs the family does;
an opportunity to attend a language school;
pocket money – at least 260 € per month;
medical insurance;
paid leave;
an opportunity to learn about the culture and art of the host country;
passage ticket for the public conveyances (some families put a car at an au-pair’s disposal);
the family may invite an au-pair to spend a holiday or a weekend at the sea, in other countries and go for an interesting trip together.
What can you receive when having spent a year as an au-pair?
You can study thoroughly the country and its language, get new friends and gain priceless experience in communication with children; take another look at such qualities as tolerance and sincerity; you can enter a German academy; and you may probably meet your second half here.
A year as an au-pair is an adventure – either in positive or in negative sense of the word. On the one hand, lots of new and exciting events occur to an au-pair, but, on the other hand, self-affirmation is needed just all the time, you have to trail through difficulties, prove yourself to be grown enough for such an adventure, otherwise you can soon find yourself in the homeland or wallow in moaning and incessant home-sickness.
The family receives an au-pair in order that she/he could take care of children, and the au-pair wants to learn the new country thoroughly. These are main differences between interests of both sides.
Where am I going to live and how much money am I going to get?
Au-pair is granted an own furnished room at family’s apartment or house of the receiving family. These requirements are adjusted in compliance with the “European Agreement on Au Pair Placement”.
An au-pair gets a rent-free habitation, a month's passage ticket for the public conveyances, food and monthly pocket money – at least 205,00 € (beginning from the year 2006 this sum will come to 260 €).Besides, the family engages itself to insure you for the case of illness, accident and make guarantee insurance.
The family also pays for all the events you visit together.
Usually au-pair pays for the road and return.
But sometimes the family can help you in payment for the journey or/and courses.
What opportunities will you have to learn German?
You will be given time to attend language course. You should certainly use this opportunity so that you could feel yourself more comfortable in a new language environment. Your language school will be selected by a host family with the support of our agency.
What are the au-pair job duration and nature?
You have a chance to be invited by a host family for a period up to 12 months. Your daily working hours total 5 (and consequently there are 30 hours per week). Working time assignment can be submitted to a mutual approval individually. The housewife has to arrange housework in such a way so that an au-pair was not burdened with too much responsibility and unforeseen work.
Bringing up and looking after children is the main au-pair’s duty in European countries. If parents are working, then an au-pair is expected to reveal self-dependence and responsibility in his/her work. More over, an au-pair assumes performing a part of house duties. However, that doesn’t mean doing just all the housework – all the time you devote to going out with a child, taking part in his school studies, going to the cinema, theatre, visiting sport arrangements is considered to be your working time, if that is not your own desire.
Our advice is going to be the following: before you come, it would be better for you to describe to the host family the duties you will be able to perform about the house and garden. A detailed working plan will help you to avoid the division among you and the receiving family. If some of the duties suggested by the family seem to be to difficult or even impracticable for you, discuss it with the family.
An au-pair has a right for at least one day off per week. At the minimum, one Sunday per month has to be a rest-day. Working time does not include having meals, personal occupations, such as, for instance, tidying up her/his room, doing morning or evening toilet.
Will I have a leave?
In the case, when you’re staying with a host family within a year, you have a right on 4 weeks of a paid leave, in other cases you are expected to have 2 days off after working for one month.
The leave date is adjusted with a host family. An au-pair can be invited to spend his/her vocation with the family. If that's the case, an au-pair must discuss what part of the usual duties he/she has to perform and what time she/he will have in his/her disposal.
How to start?
First of all, fill in truly and properly our form for placing you as an au-pair, please. When having done it, send it to us immediately (photos are desired), so that we could start searching for a family, corresponding to your requests straight away.
Then you will receive extra questions, a form, and another form for medical examination. You’ll have to fill them in, write a letter to a family, where you will work, put in 3-4 photos and send us. These files will form a folder, which the families, who want to invite you, will receive. If you have an opportunity, you can send us a short video telling us about you, online or by e-mail. It may make easier the process of reaching a decision into your favour. If you can’t send us photos online, just send them with other documents.
What happens after I fill the form?
Your data will be published in the Internet, in the Galerie Au-pair section, where families searching for an au-pair, will obtain a chance to read about all the candidates in such a way.
If after your folder examination the family wants to invite you, it will be through with you. We’ll prompt you what aspects to discuss.
If you like the family, while talking with it over the phone, we’ll send you al the necessary documents, including the agreement.
Having these files and a foreign passport, you’ll be able to order a visa in you country’s embassy.
The exact data of your arrival can be discussed with the host family or with us.
What are the rules of entry permission, stay and placement?
Every au-pair enters the country having a traveller's passport. If you are not a member of European Community countries (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), then you need a residential permit for Federal Republic of Germany. In order to receive a visa, you have to hand in an application to a corresponding representative office of Germany in your country. So as to get permission for a visa, a prior agreement of the department for foreigners in the city/town, where the host family lives.
After your arrival a corresponding labor registry office gives you a permission to work. For this to happen you need an active residential permit or an agreement for a subsequent presentation of an residential permit.
Citizens, who are not members of the European Union or EEA, must have a foreign passport that will remain active throughout the period of his /her stay in the country.
