Do I need an Au-Pair?
Do you need help at home with looking after the child(ren) and doing the housework?
If yes, then an Au-Pair may be just what you need.

What does “Au-Pair” actually mean?
The word “au-pair” derives from the French expression “at par”, which means “equal to” or “on equal terms”. An Au-Pair comes to live as part of the family, and is treated as a family member, in the sense that they eat with the family, have their own bedroom and take part in the occasional family outing and sometimes holiday. In return, the Au-Pair is usually expected to take on certain duties to help out the family.

What are Au-Pairs?
An Au-Pair is generally a young, unmarried person aged between 17 and 27 inclusive for U.K (or 17 - 30 yo for U.S.A), with no dependents and coming from abroad, usually to improve their knowledge of a foreign language and to experience a new culture and way of life.

Danfil Company Ltd deals with the following countries: Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece,  Italy, Latvia,  Malta,  New Zealand,  Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA, and we are constantly expanding our operations into new countries.

What are the general duties of an Au-Pair?
The day-to-day work of an Au-Pair depends on the nature and lifestyle of the host family.However, their duties generally include:

- looking after children, which may involve supervising and accompanying them to nursery, school or certain events;

- going for walks or playing with them, as well as occasional evening baby-sitting;

- light housework and help with keeping the apartment tidy, for example help with washing and ironing, vacuuming, dusting and bed making;

- preparing breakfast and simple meals for children, looking after pets.

 Au-Pairs’ working hours, leisure time and pocket money
Standard Au-Pair working hours are 5 hrs/day, 5 days/week for which the Au-Pair should receive min. £65/wk in Great Britain or min. 100€/100$ for the rest of countries. If, for some reason, more hours are required, this must be indicated on the application form and discussed with the Au-Pair prior to acceptance. The overtime must be compensated for by extra time off and/or extra pocket money (i.e: £2/hr). The division of working time is organised according to the conditions and needs of the family. However, the Au-Pair must be allowed to attend language classes if they wish to do so, and they must have at least one and a half days off a week. If the Au-Pair is accepted by the family for a full year, a holiday of 4 weeks is due to her. When the family goes on holidays, the Au-Pair often accompanies them and is responsible for carrying out certain duties, such as looking after the children.

Application process/Service fees
Upon receipt of the family’s Application Form, the details and requests of the applying family are thoroughly assessed and carefully matched with those of our Au-Pairs, with the aim of ensuring that the placement is pleasurable for both the family and the Au-Pair.

The family is then offered portfolios of Au-Pair candidates who match their requirements. The Au-pair's information normally consists of the candidate's application form, baby-sitting references, an essay of themselves, their hobbies and interests, and some photos of themselves. As soon as the family selects a candidate(s) whom they consider to be most suitable, a telephone interview is arranged so that the family can speak to and interview the candidate. This also gives the candidate an opportunity to ask the family questions relevant to their vacancy.

Once an Au-Pair is accepted, Danfil Company Ltd sends documents required for finalising the placement and an invoice to the family. When the documents and payment are received, the Au-Pair's travel arrangements are made. Danfil Company Ltd informs the family of the Au-Pair's travel arrangements and the Au-Pair is met by the family at the point of arrival. From that moment on, as long as the Au-Pair appreciates that this is not a paid holiday and that the family is accepting them into their home and offering full board and pocket money, and that the family members appreciate that they are engaging a student and not a domestic servant, this is an excellent arrangement which usually ends with warm memories and often a friendship that last a lifetime.

Danfil Company offers highly competitive prices which start from £200 for a one-off service fee, depending on the type and length of Au-Pair service you require.