Day-to-day operating brief
What Au Pair (Live In) work looks like in practice
A Live-In Au Pair provides agreed childcare and light household support while living in the family home. Where the arrangement is employment, terms should clearly state status, hours, pay, private accommodation, meals, deductions if any, time off, language study, household duties, school runs, babysitting, travel, guests, privacy, keys, car use, safeguarding, illness and what happens to accommodation when employment ends. Cultural-exchange language must not obscure employment rights or unlimited availability.
Responsibilities reflected in the contract
- Provide childcare during agreed hours.
- Complete listed light household tasks.
- Support school routines meals and activities.
- Respect family privacy and home security.
- Report health incidents expenses and changes.
A realistic working scenario
A family trip adds overnight childcare and different accommodation. The au pair receives clear working, rest, expense and privacy arrangements rather than being treated as continuously available because they travel with the household.
Outputs to agree
- reliable agreed childcare support
- respectful shared-home arrangements
- clear family duty handovers
Records and evidence
- Weekly hours duty and time off.
- Child collection meal and activity.
- Expense travel key and vehicle.
- Incident illness and family handover.
- Child records.
- Attendance records.
Reporting relationship
Typically reports to Nursery Manager, Room Leader, SENCO or Early Years Lead. Confirm the employer's actual reporting structure in the builder.
Authority and escalation
- The au pair cannot be required to provide unrestricted availability, undertake unlisted heavy domestic work or make major child decisions without authority.
- Obtain approval before committing expenditure, changing contractual commitments or making regulated or staffing decisions outside the assigned role.
Tools and systems
- Early-years record systems.
- Learning observation tools.
- Nursery communication systems.
- Play and learning equipment.
Workplace context
- Nursery, childcare, early years or approved education premises.
Training and certification
- Complete employer-required safeguarding training.
Contract priorities
- status pay hours and duties
- accommodation meals privacy and guests
- children school runs babysitting and travel
- car use study time illness and termination
Information the employer should prepare
- the children and agreed duty schedule
- the pay accommodation and meal terms
- the household-task boundaries
- the travel vehicle and babysitting expectations
- the privacy guest and end-of-employment arrangements
Individually written and reviewed against the maintained role record.