 Family information
Our Au Pairs are young women or men between the ages of 18 to 30 with at least 100 hours of documented childcare experience. Host families choose to have an Au Pair for a variety of reasons. Therefore, we have Au Pairs that specialise in different areas and have unique skills to meet your family's specific requirements. For example, a specialised infant caregiver may not be suited to kicking a soccer ball after school with your 11 year old boy! So, at Au Pair Link, we have three different types of Au Pairs that you can choose from:
- Au Pair Extraordinaire - specialises in children under 2
- Au Pair - all ages
- Au Pair Mate - specialises in children over age 9 (usually we place Au Pair Mates in families with boys that require an "older brother" influence).
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All Au Pair Link Au Pairs have...
- 100 - 150 hours of documented childcare experience (babysitting, teaching experience, coaching experience etc)
- At least 2 references from previous employers/childcare employers, transcripts will be provided for the families to review
- A clean police & medical record
- Transcript of their most recent academic record
- High English competency. A personality test and an English spoken "test" will be conducted to assess proficiency.
Our Sweden-based interviewers spend a lot of time speaking with, guiding and helping each and every one of our Au Pairs. We make sure we know your Au Pair and his/her skills and background before recommending them to your family.
What we ask of our families
Foremost we ask you to remember that the Au Pair you bring into your home is also someone's daughter or son. Consequently, we ask you to aide your Au Pair (where possible) in contacting their loved ones at home/overseas e.g. internet access, phone cards etc.
We also ask our families to be considerate toward their Au Pair and to make sure that an open line of communication is established. We ask you to respect the privacy of your Au Pair and to be mindful of their safety.
When your Au Pair arrives we ask you to take two days off and help him/her with the children as well as teach them about your community and local amenities. It is important for you to show your Au Pair where they can find your children's medication (if applicable), where the closest hospital or doctor is and any other information that is vital to know about your family. Please remember that your Au Pair will be jetlagged and exhausted after travelling for approximately 30 hours - so initial rest is important!
Living arrangements:
Your Au Pair must have their own room in the house and proper access to a bathroom. Access to a computer, TV, books etc is preferable. Your Au Pair must have at least three meals per day (free of charge) as well as uninhibited access to all food and typical household amenities.
Working hours:
- 35 hour working week (maximum of 40 hours per week - only if necessary)
- No more than 10 hour working days
- 2 days off per week
- One weekend off per month (Friday night to Monday morning)
- 2 weeks off with full pay (scheduled in accordance with the family)
- Curfews (particularly on working nights) can be discussed and agreed upon if required.
MOCK SCHEDULE
7 am - 8 am |
Waking children, organising clothes & breakfast. |
8 am - 8.30 am |
Taking children to school. |
8.30 am - 2 pm |
Free time for the Au Pair, possibly take language class, meet friends or explore! |
2pm - 6 pm |
Pick up children from school. Help them with homework and/or play with them and organise fun games. Make sure that the children's laundry is done & organise dinner. After dinner; make sure that the kitchen is tidy. |
6pm - |
Parents are home and the Au Pair has free time. |
Your Au Pair should work around 35 hours per week, never exceeding 40 hours. Any babysitting required should be included in these hours (babysitting is deemed to be any "work time" spent with the children after 8pm). Your Au Pair works a five day working week with two days off per week. Your Au Pair is not allowed to work more than 10 hours in one day.
Your Au Pair must have the entire weekend off at least one weekend per month (Friday night to Monday morning), to enable them to go on trips and explore New Zealand. Your Au Pair is entitled to two weeks' vacation with full pay. These weeks should be decided upon in consultation with the Au Pair shortly after they arrive.
Job description:
Your Au Pair is not a qualified childcare provider and should not be treated as one nor is he/she a cleaner. However, your Au Pair does have documented childcare experience and as a "member" of your family should be expected to help out with tasks around the house.
Au Pair duties can include...
- Waking your children in the morning and dressing/helping them to get dressed
- Bathing/showering them in accordance with your family's guidelines
- Preparing meals for your children (such as breakfast, packed lunches and dinner)
- Helping your children to take care of their belongings and tidy their rooms
- Cleaning up in the kitchen after a meal or organising the playroom
- Taking your child to school and other activities e.g. sport, music classes
- Playing, reading, encouraging/helping them to do their homework as well as enforcing family rules (such as limited TV watching, bedtimes etc)
- Washing your child's clothes and organising their closet throughout the working week.
Free time:
Both your family and your Au Pair need free time! We define free time as "time away from each other". It is important for the host family to recognise that your Au Pair needs his/her own time to explore the new country that they are living in!
Sometimes you may want to have a quiet family dinner while your Au Pair goes out to meet friends. Other times you may just feel the need to have your children alone for a while - quality family time. All of these circumstances are perfectly normal but must be mutually recognised and clearly communicated.
Driving:
Your Au Pair has most likely never driven on the left-hand side of the road. Therefore, it is important for the host parent/s to drive with your Au Pair initially so they may familiarise themselves with the local driving conditions. We encourage you to buy your Au Pair the New Zealand "Road Code" - to find out more information on please visit http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/roadcode
If you require your Au Pair to regularly drive as a part of the job then you will need to insure your car for this purpose (this is to be at the host family's expense). If your Au Pair does not drive as part of the job, but is still provided with a car, it is acceptable for the Au Pair to contribute toward the cost of any additional insurance required. If your Au Pair has an accident while driving for work purposes - the excess is to be paid by the host family.
Click here and register to become a host family today!
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