Yay! Today we signed the contract with our new AuPair who will be joining us in late August for six month. This time we’ll be hosting a German girl in our spare bedroom (see photo).

We contacted her via AuPairWorld.com, which means no agency was involved. We had to take care about the contract ourselves. AuPairWorld pointed us towards the official “recommended contract” from the European Union, which can be found here.

However, the text is extremely cumbersome, not very friendly and doesn’t really set the tone that we were looking for when contracting our AuPair. Thus, we took the content, rephrased everything and added additional details – both for our and our AuPairs peace of mind.

Feel free to copy / adjust the text for your own situation:

II. 2. We will provide board and lodging for you. You will have your own room and share a bathroom with Valentina.

II. 3. We agree on paying you pair pocket money amounting to 80 € weekly. The money will be paid in person every Sunday night (unless you specify that you prefer a weekly or monthly bank transfer).

II. 4. Your au pair schedule shall be organised in such a way as to allow you to follow courses, and to improve your general cultural development and knowledge of the language (see below)

II. 5. You shall have two free day(s) per week (Saturday and Sunday) and shall have full opportunity to take part in religious worship. Once a month you will have the opportunity to attend the German Lutheran church in Barcelona should you choose to do so.

II. 6. You are responsible to organise the European Health Insurance Card which covers health insurance in European countries (Europäische Krankenversicherungskarte). We will help you to register for residency in Spain and obtaining the NIE (National Identity Number for Foreigners) within the first month of her stay.

II. 7. In the event of the au pair’s falling ill, we will continue to provide board and lodging and shall give all appropriate care until such time as necessary arrangements have been made.

III. DUTIES OF THE AU PAIR

III. 1. You will be required to work for approximately six hours per day. In addition 1 or 2 nights per month babysitting may be required and plenty of notice will be given if necessary. You will have every weekend and bank holiday off unless agreed otherwise in advance.

We like to go on 2-3 day holidays about once per month. In many occasions you will have the opportunity to join us on these trips. While we may ask you to help us with the kids on these trips, we will pay for all travel expenses (hotel room, flights, train, food…)

Your main duty is the due care of our two children. You will be required to finish their breakfast, prepare lunch and snack as required, go to the park or local playground, read and sing to them as well as anything else that may be necessary for their amusement and wellbeing. You will be required to clean up after their meals and keep the kitchen in good order.

As we have a cleaning lady, other household tasks are limited to emptying the dishwasher or hanging the laundry on rare occasions.

You may also be required to walk the two dogs, always within your normal working schedule.

Working hours are from Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm and 3pm to 5 pm. These hours may change depending on Valentina’s work schedule. Due notice will always be given and your social activities will always take precedence (language classes, sports etc).

III. 2. The au pair agrees to comply with any formality necessary on her part to enable the host to fulfil her/his obligations under paragraph II 6 of this agreement.

IV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

IV. 1. The official end date of the agreement is February 24th, 2017, unless we decide to prolong the agreement for another six month.

Both parties can agreeIn the event of serious misconduct by one of the parties, the other party may immediately terminate the agreement. Either of the parties may also terminate the agreement with immediate effect if serious circumstances make such instant termination necessary.

In the event of a need for disciplinary action, the procedure will be 1) a verbal warning, 2) a written warning 3) dismissal without need for further notice.

Reasons which could give rise to disciplinary measures are as follows: Causing a disruptive influence in the household, Job incompetence, Conduct during or outside working hours prejudicial to our interests, Unreliability in timekeeping or attendance, Failure to comply with our reasonable instructions or procedures

Reasons for immediate dismissal without further notice would be: Theft or other dishonest offences, Drunkenness, Illegal drug taking, Child abuse or neglect.

We expect that none of the above stated will arise.

IV. 2. The parties also agree on the following:

Travel opportunities: We, the host family like to explore Spain and Europe on the weekends. As we both have flexible work environments, these short trips (usually around 2-3 days) may be on weekends or during the week. You may choose to accompany us on those trips. We will pay for lodging, food, transport and possible entry fees (in case of museums, parks etc), unless discussed otherwise before booking the trip. In those occasions where we need to travel alone, we might ask you to take care of the dogs while we are away.

Special duty weeks: 3-4 times a year Valentina will be away for 7-10 days for business travel. During these periods, your schedule will vary depending on the availability of other family members to help out. You are aware that this will be the case from September 14th to September 22nd and from October 27th to November 5th, 2016. During these weeks your working hours might occasionally exceed your normal schedule.

Visiting babies: on rare occasions friends will ask us to take in one of their (similar aged) babies and/or pick them up from the kinder garden. If this happens with in your work hours, you might sometimes be in charge of three children during that period of time. If outside your working hours, you will receive an extra payment of 10€/hour if you are happy to babysit outside of your schedule.

Christmas holiday: You will have two weeks paid vacation after six month of work. However, you will be getting 7 days off from Thursday, December 22nd to Wednesday December 27th (both included). This will be paid leave and we would like this to be part of your 2 weeks paid leave for your first 6 month work.

Language classes: As there are no group classes in Spanish language available in Mataro, we will provide a Spanish teacher for four private hours per week.

e look forward to having you with us and are sure that you’ll have a great time in Spain. Please sign a copy of this letter as acceptance of its terms and conditions.

Mataro, June 28th, 2016
Signature of host family              Signature of AuPair

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