Au Pairs
Nanny GPS: Frequently Asked Questions for families
- How do I find an Au Pair/Nanny?
- How do I search for Au Pairs/Nannies?
- Can I employ an Au Pair or Nanny from anywhere in the world?
- Do you have any other tips on defining suitable nationalities for my family?
- I live in Ireland and want to employ an au pair nanny. Can you please explain what holiday, sick leave and other entitlements are applicable to them?
- Who are domestic workers?
- Can you please explain what Health and Safety I need to be aware of for my new au pair nanny?
- We are taking our au pair nanny on vacation with us - can we deduct the days from their holiday entitlements?
- Do I have to pay our au pair nanny overtime?
- Our au pair nanny has broken some items around the house - can I deduct breakages from the au pair nannies salary?
How do I find an Au Pair/Nanny?
Firstly, you need to create a free family profile and advertise your childcare job stating whether you are looking for an Au Pair or Nanny. Interested childcare providers will then apply for your childcare job.
How do I search for Au Pairs/Nannies?
Simply click the Search Candidates link, select your search criteria and click on run search. This will display candidates that match your initial search criteria. The search results are returned and a summary profile for each candidate is listed. The candidates profiles are returned with the following icons displaying the key attributes from their profile:
owns a car
has driving licence
will help with house work
has first aid training
will help with pet care
will care children under two
will care elderly people
will care children with special needs
If you would like to conduct a more targeted search, use the Advanced search link.
Can I employ an Au Pair or Nanny from anywhere in the world?
Au Pairs and Nannies must adhere to the visa process from your country. Inform yourself on the visa requirements for your country and identify the possible nationalities who can work for you before advertising your childcare job, as this may save you some time during the interview and selection process. As a starting point, visit our section on Visas to see if your country is listed.
Do you have any other tips on defining suitable nationalities for my family?
Yes, it might also be worth while looking at the possible travel arrangements between your location and other destinations. Au Pairs generally pay their own airfare, and as the Au Pair only earns pocket money with you, long distance travel may be cost prohibitive for them. Expedia or Travelocity are great travel sites to research destinations that fly to your nearest airport and the possible costs.
I live in Ireland and want to employ an au pair nanny. Can you please explain what holiday, sick leave and other entitlements are applicable to them?
While you live in Ireland, some of the general advice here is probably relevant to all families.
A general piece of advice to families is to agree up front with the au pair/babysitter/nanny the terms under which you are contracting to use their services and that the agreement is very clear to both parties involved.
We'll try and explain our understanding of the different options available to families in Ireland and point you towards some relevant reading material, to help you make your own informed decision.
The question on whether the au pair/babysitter/nanny is entitled to holidays etc depends on whether or not they are deemed an employee of the family.
Babysitting on a casual basis is not generally regarded as employment.
An au pair is generally understood to involve an informal agreement that the family provide bed and board and some pocket money in return for some domestic services (childminding, cleaning, cooking) and the au pair has time off to attend language classes or other study. In immigration law au pairs are generally regarded as students. In this case, the au pair is not an employee of the family, it's an informal arrangement both parties agree to, so the au pair does not have employment rights, such as, holidays, sick pay etc.
On the other hand, an 'au pair/nanny' who is expected to provide full time care for children while the parents are in fill time work is almost certainly an employee or self employed contractor, regardless of whether they are called au pair or nanny.
As we understand, the family has two options.
- Option 1: The family employs the au pair/nanny - au pair/nanny is employee.
In this case, the family is responsible for ensuring that all PRSI/PAYE obligations, as per www.revenue.ie are adhered to. The family is an employer and is subject to employment law.
The au pair/nanny is an employee of the family and is entitled to full employment rights as any other worker. The citizens information website is a good source of information on employment rights - holiday entitlements, contract of work, pay slips, etc
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions
- Option 2: Contract the services of the au pair/nanny - au pair/nanny is self employed
Agree at the start, that you are contracting the au pair/nanny to provide an agreed list of services at an agreed rate with agreed payment terms etc and that the au pair nanny is a self employed contractor. In this case, the au pair nanny is responsible for their own tax affairs (VAT if applicable) and they are not entitled to any holiday pay, sick pay etc. If they do not work they do not get paid.
In essence, a self employed person is not an employee of the family and therefore does not have employment rights entitlements.
It's advisable to have a very clear contract agreed and signed by both parties. You can decide if you want to add in a notice period or other terms to your contract.
The self employed au pair nanny contractor should technically provide the family with an invoice for services and a receipt for payment of same.
This is probably the most straight forward option for families.
Again, the citizens information website has a good description on whether a person is an employee or self employed.
Another good document to look at is the Relate newsletter for December 2005 which specifically talks about Home Matters - au pairs etc. The issues addressed in this newsletter are still very relevant.
The key point is to agree the terms of service up front, and to make your own informed decision on which arrangement suits your family best, based on the current legislation.
- Option 1: The family employs the au pair/nanny - au pair/nanny is employee.
Who are domestic workers?
Domestic workers are hired to work in a private home. They do such things as house keeping, or providing care, supervision or personal assistance to children or people who are elderly, ill or have a disability. Domestic workers can work part time or full time and can live in or outside the employer's home.
A babysitter who provides occasional short term care, supervision or personal assistance to children is not generally considered to be a domestic worker.
Can you please explain what Health and Safety I need to be aware of for my new au pair nanny?
Generally speaking, the family must ensure that the work load for your au pair nanny, including psychological work load, is manageable and safe. Adequate rest, relaxation and privacy must be afforded to the au pair nanny. They must also be given adequate training and information in respect of the household equipment, products, and routines together with information on the general and cultural environment of the locality.
It is important that you ensure your au pair nanny is adequately protected and insured against accidents. Your household insurance should cover the employment of domestic workers against accidents and injury arising during the course of their employment with you. However, it is advisable to check with your insurance company before your au pair nanny arrives.
Your local authority may have more information on what Health and Safety obligations you must be aware of in your country of residence.
We are taking our au pair nanny on vacation with us - can we deduct the days from their holiday entitlements?
When an au pair nanny travels on vacation to work with the family, this is working time and the au pair nanny must be paid for their time. Also the time must not be deducted from their holiday entitlements if they are an employee of the family.
In addition the au pairs nannies travel, hotel and living expenses must be paid as the au pair nanny is working during the vacation.
Do I have to pay our au pair nanny overtime?
The employment legislation on overtime may differ country to country and it's best to check the employment rights in your country of residence. Having said this, if the au pair nanny is not legally entitled to overtime but good practice means that overtime will be paid after the domestic worker has worked the agreed amounts of hours a day. Good practice will provide overtime pay at time and a half i.e. 1.5 times the employee's regular rate of pay, for the first four hours and double time after that. Before your au pair nanny starts working for you, it's important to agree up front how you will treat overtime. You may agree to paid time off instead of overtime.
Our au pair nanny has broken some items around the house - can I deduct breakages from the au pair nannies salary?
You need to check the employment legislation in your country. Generally speaking there are legal restrictions in relation to deductions from wages for breakages. In most countries, apart from tax and insurance, no deductions can be made without prior notice or agreement. Such deductions must be agreed prior to being taken out of an au pairs nannies wages and must be fair and reasonable having regard for all circumstances, including the amount of wages for your au pair nanny.
Families should recognise that accidental breakages will happen and should take this into consideration. If you have any precious valuables around the house, it may be wise to remove these from risk of breakage, and try to prevent any accidents from happening.
