Are you thinking about having an au pair?

An au pair can be an enormous help for busy families, not only during the school holiday's but for any busy periods in your life.

They can spend time with your children, playing with them and entertaining them, helping with house-hold chores and cooking. For your children, they gain experience of another culture, plus someone who can give them their undivided attention. For you, an au pair provides a much needed extra pair of hands and can relieve a great deal of pressure from busy family life.

Hosting an au pair should be a rewarding experience for your family. An au pair comes to the UK as part of a cultural exchange, to live here and experience our culture within the safe confines of your family. They will help you with childcare and house-hold chores in return for board and lodging at your house. It is a great system which has been running for many decades and if you remember to treat them as a member of your family and not as a domestic employee, you will reap the benefits. 

What happens if it all goes wrong?

With the best will in the world, sometimes things simply don't go to plan and for whatever reason, the host family and the au pair may not be compatible.

A tiny percentage of our au pair placements don't work out and it can be a worrying time for both the au pair and the host family. You will know quite early on if things are not going as smoothly as you had planned and the first thing you should do is contact us. We are here to help and with many years of experience within the au pair industry, we will be able to put your mind at rest and formulate a plan which meets everyones needs.

The first few weeks are an important time as it is in everyones best interests for your au pair to settle in quickly and smoothly. Do remember that it is natural for your au pair to feel homesick at some point - often during the first couple of weeks - and that this in no way means that they want to return home. Be understanding and supportive and above all please do treat your au pair as part of your family. We strongly recommend that you help your au pair to find a local language school as soon as possible as this is a very good way for them to not only improve their English language skills, but to also meet like minded people who will hopefully go on to become friends. See our section on 'Language Schools' for advise on how to find a language school in your area. Another important thing to do as soon as your au pair arrives is to give them a clear itinerary of what you would like them to do on a daily basis. This is by far the best way to help them settle in quickly. Without a clear itinerary, your au pair may not understand how she fits into your family and may start to feel like a spare part! Don't expect them to always ask you what to do - sometimes they would prefer to do nothing rather than do the wrong thing.   

At the end of the day, neither yourself, nor your au pair, have any long term obligations. There is no formal written contract between a host family and an au pair and if things are simply not working out then we ask that both parties give each other at least one weeks notice period to make alternative arrangements. This will give us time to find another host family for your au pair,or for them to book a return flight home. We can also find another suitable au pair for you if you wanted to try again. Above all, keep things civil. These things happen from time to time.