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Find out how many hours per week the au pair is legally allowed to work in your country. The maximum amount can vary from 20 to 40 hours , depending on the country.
Normally, an au pair is not allowed to work for more than six hours per day. During this time, the au pair has to complete the common au pair tasks, such as taking care of the children or helping with the house work.
If the au pair works overtime, the extra hours have to be subtracted from another day.
If the au pair cleans their own room, it is not considered part of regular working hours.
The au pair has to have at least one day off per week. This free day has to be a Sunday at least once a month.
According to the regulations of the au pair program, you have to give the au pair four nights off per week. Also keep in mind when planning the working schedule that the au pair needs time off to go to a language school.
Usually, the host family discusses the working schedule with the au pair. Your needs as a host family should be the main focus when organizing the working hours of the au pair. The schedule of the au pair should depend on your working hours.
For example, if you work on shifts, the working hours of the au pair will change accordingly. We recommend talking about the possible working hours with the au pair before arrival to make sure everybody has all the necessary information from the very beginning and there won’t be any unpleasant surprises or misunderstandings about the working hours later on. You can work out specific details of the schedule once the au pair arrives.
If the au pair goes on vacation with the host family, it only counts as vacation for the au pair if the au pair does not have to do any work. If the presence of the au pair is not mandatory and the au pair is only responsible for little tasks, it counts as vacation.
On the other hand, if you take the au pair on vacation with you to help you to take care of your children, it is considered work.
If you leave the au pair at home during your family vacation , the au pair is not allowed to work for other families, friends or neighbors during this time. Most au pairs use the time to go traveling or to go and see their families.
Au pairs don’t work on holidays; if you need the help of your au pair during a holiday, you have to give the au pair another day off.
