| Au Pair programme |
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Regulations by the European Youth Council General Information The Au pair program allows young women, between 17 and 30 years old, to spend a long time in a foreign country learning another language. An au pair girl lives iwith a family as a family member. The family provides accommodation, full board and money – 70 Euros per week in Spain. The relationship between the au pair and the family is absolutely personal. Its success depends on if the family is going to help the au pair to organize her classes and her free time, and if the au pair is motivated to fulfil the housework given by the family. It cannot be considered as a general domestic service. House and family It is important that the host mother gives the au pair, as much infromation as possible about the number of people living in the house and their relationships, about the presence of the host mother (is she staying home or is she leaving regularly?), about what the family offers the au pair and about what she is expected to do. Generally, the au pair has her own room. She is considered a family member so she will eat with the family or with the children. The relationship between the host mother and the au pair is different from a relationship between a boss and an employee. The au pair has to follow the family’s customs and fit in with its way of life. She has to respect the authority of her host parents. Rights and Duties The time the au pair girl spends on looking after the children and housework may not exceed 5 or 6 hours per day. She will have at least one day per week. During summer holidays, it might be necessary for the au pair to work more, since the children do not go to school and the parents work all day long. However, those hours are not considered as working hours, it is time in which the au pair girl has to be present (e.g. looking after the children at the beach or the swimming pool, going for a walk or playing with them). That is why the au pair should to be informed about her work and her timetable before accepting a post. On the other hand, it is very important that the au pair’s day off is really a day entirely at her own disposal. She should be totally free to attend classes, meet friends, go sightseeing, go to the cinema, etc…, and she should have the time and the facilities to practice her religious customs. In exchange for hospitality and food, the au pair has to help her host mother:
However, the au pair girl is not expected to fulfil heavy household chores. Studies The family should inform the au pair about how and where she can attend language classes, rest or have fun. However, the agency provides quite cheap classes to study the language. Travel Generally, the choice of the host family is made when the au pair is still in her own country, that is why the family has the obligation to inform the au pair about the travel details. The family will pick up the au pair at the airport, or at least call a taxi which will bring her to the family’s house. The au pair has to pay for her flight back. Insurance There is an agreement between the European Union countries: everybody is covered by health insurance. To have this kind of insurance, the au pair has to ask for the European Health Card in the office of the health insurance in her home town. If the au pair does not live in the European Union or cannot get this card for any reason, she has to take out another insurance policy for her whole stay before going. Our Agency As soon as we have the completed application form for the candidatet who wants to become an au pair, and for prosepctive family, we will keep in touch with both parts and inform them about the details of the exchange. If there is a problem between the au pair and the host family, our agency will solve it, unless there is serious misconduct between either of the parties. You can come to our agency whenever you want, we are here to help you, to advise you, and help find solutions for any problems that arise. |