The Process
Once you get in touch with us to begin the search for an au pair we will have a chat with you to discuss your requirements. Then we will send you a registration form to complete. There are a couple of other things we will want from you to begin the search.
These are:
- Completed Registration Form for families
- Letter to the Au Pair telling her about your family
- Some photos of your family, your house, and the au pair's bedroom always goes down well!
- A registration fee of £50 for us to begin working on finding you an au pair.
We have samples of the Au Pair letter we can send you to let you know the sort of thing to write. It should be warm and friendly, all about your family, your children, your likes and dislikes, the amount of hours needed and the au pairs duties. Also about the area you live in.
Once we have this information we will contact the relevant agencies abroad and will sift through their applicants until we have found a few we think will suit you.
The agencies abroad carefully check all Au Pair applicants; the potential Au Pair must supply the following pieces of information about themselves:
- Completed Registration Form for Au Pairs
- 'Letter to the family' telling them about her
- Two references at least
- Police Check
- Medical Check
- Evidence of relevant Qualifications
- Photos of themselves, with children they have looked after and with family and friends.
Once you have found one or two Au Pair applicants you would like to find out more about, the next step is to contact them directly. Let us know who you are interested in and we will check a good time to contact the au pair and the best method of contact, whether it is by phone or Skype. The phone call is between you and the au pair. The next day you should contact us at Nannies and Childcare to let us know how you got on! If another phone call is necessary we can arrange this, if you don’t want to take it further we will keep on with the search.
And if you want to invite the Au Pair to come and stay with your family...
We will contact the Agency abroad to see if the feeling is mutual, and let you know. You need to move quickly as a good Au Pair may be snapped up by another family!
To confirm the invitation, you must write a formal 'Letter of Invitation' to the Au Pair. We can provide you with an example of this. Once the Au Pair has confirmed she is happy with this letter the decision is made. Our Agency fee must be settled within 4 days of the Letter of Invitation being sent, as Au Pairs are not supposed to book flights without the confirmation that payment has been received, otherwise the family is not seen as having invested in the arrival of the Au Pair.
Au Pairs from a non-EU country will have to show the letter to the host country Consulate when applying for a Visa and to the Immigration authorities on arrival in the host country.
The letter must contain the following:
- The title 'Letter of Invitation for our Au Pair'
- Your name, address, telephone number and the date
- Dear ..........
We would like to invite you to come and stay with us and be our Au Pair, starting…’ and give the date when the Au Pair is expected to start. - Information about your family, such as names, occupations, ages of children, where they go to school etc.
- A description of your house and where you live
- A description of the accommodation you will be providing your Au Pair, such as her own bedroom, bathroom, TV etc.
- A detailed description, on a day by day basis, of your Au Pair's duties, giving the number of hours of each duty including the start and stop time, and the number of hours free. Pay attention to the number of hours, because if they exceed the maximum allowable hours the visa could be denied.
- Your family's likes and dislikes etc.
- What her pocket money will be
- Number of free days per week. This should be at least two and always a Sunday
- Information about language classes
- Finish the letter with 'Yours sincerely,' your signature and your full name.
Everything should be explained as clearly as possible to avoid any misunderstanding later on.
The Travel
The Au Pair will pay the travel cost although there are families who like to help. In some cases, the family pays the return travel if the Au Pair has stayed for the agreed time. Make sure this is clear in advance.
The family must collect the au pair from the point of arrival (airport, train or bus station). They will be informed of the Au pair's travel plans by the agency.
Before the au pair travels, make sure you have her mobile phone number and she has yours in case of mishaps with travel arrangements or pick up arrangements!
In the event the Family could not collect the Au Pair from the point of arrival or make the necessary arrangements for any other properly identified person to pick her up, then a taxi should be provided if the Family’s house is within a reasonable distance of the point of arrival. (25 miles/50km).
If the house is further away, the Family should send the Au Pair detailed information on transport that she can take to get to their house. All this information must be in the hands of the Au Pair before she makes any travel arrangements.
The Family must reimburse the Au Pair from the first point of arrival to the second point where families MUST COLLECT THEM.
First Day
The initial settling in period is very important for both the Family and the Au Pair. Welcome her into your home and treat her as part of the Family to make her feel at home.
For one or two days ideally the Family should be entirely at the disposal of the Au Pair to show her the house and the neighborhood, the route to school, explain what they want her to do, answer all her questions, and show her the way to the language school, the shops, etc.
In order to create a happy environment and avoid misunderstandings for everyone in the family, be straightforward about the house rules and give the Au Pair clear instructions about what to do. It is in the best interests of both parties to establish the guidelines and expectations at an early stage in the relationship.
It is a good idea to print out a copy of the Au Pair’s timetable and stick it on the fridge/noticeboard so that her duties are there in black and white and cannot be forgotten.
Make yourself available to her in case she has any questions, and explain things again patiently if she has not understood at first. In most cases it takes a few days for an Au Pair to get used to your way of speaking but this will get easier. Talk slowly in the first few days!