Anyone ever hired an AuPair before?

[blewits]

I need some help and you guys are my favorite people to ask about any/everything.....

My husband and I are thinking about hosting an AuPair for about 6 months. Has anyone ever done this before?

We don't want to go thru an agency. We want to find one on our own. How do you handle the taxes for that?? What was your experience with an AuPair? My husband is German and I'm American. We want someone that can speak German.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Wendy

 

[ktpool]

Taxes should be just like an employee...ask your tax advisor.

BUT...I would be very wary about bringing a stranger into my home without going through an agency and criminal background check. I could never do that...too many bad people out there.

JMHO...

 

[mickeyboat]

BUT...I would be very wary about bringing a stranger into my home without going through an agency and criminal background check. I could never do that...too many bad people out there.

JMHO...

MTE. If I was totally against an agency for some reason, I would at least want to know someone who knew her (family, friend). Plus, if I was an au pair, I would want to know that the family wasn't a bunch of psychos, too.

Denae

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am a professional nanny. It has been my full time career for the past 12 years. I really STRONGLY advise you to go through a reputable agency to find an au pair!!

There are so many issues surrounding work visas, salary, etc. that unless you are very familiar with the process it is not something you should attempt by yourself.

Au pairs typically come for a period of one year. They may not work more than 45 hours per week, and they are usually expected to be taking some college courses while they are here. You will need a detailed contract that spells out precisely what your expectations are, what the duties and rules will be, who will be responsible for plane fare if she decides to go home before the end of your agreement, etc. You also have to have some way to verify all of her info - background, experience, education, and so forth. Au pairs are really more like exchange students than nannies, so be aware going in that your au pair may not be very experienced with children and she may make immature decisions. In those instances it is much better to have an agency to contact for assistance.

Good luck!

 

[winniedapooh]

No...although on more than one occasion I wished I had Alice from the Brady Bunch to help me. However, a friend from work left after her first baby. I talked to her the other day and she is placing nanny's and au pairs now. Some business she bought so she could stay at home with her little one. When I see her this weekend I can ask her about your questions.

 

[llp479]

We had 7 au pairs through an agency for 7 years. The agency we used did background checks, psychological testing, etc. They allowed us to rank criteria important to us, and even what countries we wanted. They have community counselors, so if we ever had an issue we had a local person that we could deal with. If the "match" didn't work out, they had a rematch program, that worked great. The typical commitment is a year.

The only reason we're no longer in the program is because my dds are now 12 and 9, and are really now old enough not to need someone here. It was a wonderful experience for our family. We remain close to all the au pairs, and some of them have become friends as well. Our 5th and 6th au pair are now both in London, and get together quite often. They will be meeting us in HI in June for holiday and we are all very excited.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Beth76]

Well, you could fly over to Germany and find some girl who wants to come work for you. Or you could go through a reputable agency that does background checks and can verify references and does this sort of thing professionally.

 

[KelNottAt]

We had 2 au pairs - 12 months each. It was the perfect arrangement for us when DS was in elementary but DD was still in preschool.

We hosted our girls through Au Pair in America (http://www.aupairinamerica.com/). Notice that I said "hosted" instead of "hired." There's a difference, which jackskellingtonsgirl pretty much covered.

Since I've only used the agency route, I can't comment on DIY au pairs. However, in general, I can say that we were very glad we matched with girls whose first language is English. The families we know who started out with au pairs who had weak English skills had a rough time in the beginning.

Also, remember, foreign girls are JUST LIKE Amerinca girls. They gossip on the phone about boys, LOVE their time off, shop alot, etc. So before you a consider having a German girl (or French, or Swiss, or South African, etc) live with you, ask yourself if you could cope with a young American woman living in your house.

As for the care we received, it was excellent. My kids loved Tracy and Cubendri. If an au pair fit our needs pass those first 2 years you can bet we would have continued the arrangement.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

[tuckerkeys]

i also strongly reccomend an agency. we have used aupair care ( aupaircare.com) as have many friends of ours. there is now a summer program for girls to come over for shorter periods. we still have katerina nannying for us. she came over here from the Czec republic a little more than 2.5 yrs ago. she was only supposto stay for 1 year, but while she was here on her j1 visa our government extended her program and she had a choice to stay under her program for an additional year..she met a wonderful guy during her 2nd year and she is now still working for me ( although illegally sshhh...) and is living with him. she is here legally on a tourist visa until 12-06 and then she plans on getting a student visa...and then eventually marriage so she'll be totally legal... the agency is such a godsend b/c they take care of ALL of the paperwork associated w/ a j1 visa, and they also let you choose from lots of girls. also when the girls come over, the agency has a local area director ( like an advisor for her) that she can ask questions with, and there are also other local nannys in the same program that they have monthly meetings with. they often get together to go shopping, movies etc etc...... if you do a full yr then they are required to take 2 3 credit courses during their stay...our nanny took a one time weekend course at long island university that was designed for the nanny program...silly classes like american traditions and american holidays were what she did. i think she spent more time hanging out w/ nannies from around the northeast than she did in the weekend classes... the other good thing was that the agency had a payment program, so the 5500 initial payment was broken up in monthly payments, which makes it easier... katerina was paid a stipend of $139.04 a week for UP TO 45 hrs during that week. i rarely went over 45 hrs, i was usually @ 30-35. some families that do go over 45 pay the girl $5 an hr additional....the agency will tell you it is a no no, but it is something that is done by almost every family ( kind of like refillable mugs and the length of stay policy at disney... uh oh, but we dont do this...) and the other thing that was SO GREAT is that the nannnys pay is 100% TAX DEDUCTABLE!!!!!!! woo-hoo!!! i have an official document from the company w/ a special number on it for the tax write off...even my accountant didn't know about it, but it came right from the govt....something to do w/ the j1 visas....you can always get info from an agency & then decide if it is something you'd like to do yourself! good luck! it was the best thing we decided to do for child care! oh, and if you all were wondering, since Kat is out of the program, i pay her $8 an hr, which is the going rate for sitting in my area...

 

[blewits]

First and foremost I want to thank everyone for your insight. Although it has taken me almost 6 days to reply to this message. This is always the first place I go when I need outside opinions and I'm always rewarded! Thank you guys!

Well, I have found a girl that tried to go thru Culture Care au pairs but they would not accept her because she was actually born in America, although she was raised in Germany since she was 2 years old. I have been corresponding with her and she "seems" wonderful. She already has an american passport and dual citizenship recognized by Germany since she was originally born here. She has a best friend that wants to come as well and she is registered with Culture Care.

I think Culture Care tries to help the girls who NEED help with finding a way into the USA and this girl didn't need access to the US - she already has it.

I will be speaking with her parents in the next week or so as well to be sure they are comfortable with the arrangement and to get some more insight into her family background. Her parents are German but lived in the US for about 5 or 6 years (thats when they had her).

I will keep you posted. I'm still trying to dig up all the tax info crap. I think the way it works is that I have to take taxes out of her pay if I want to claim the money I pay her as childcare - for deduction on my own taxes.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Wendy