How much should a family pay an au pair for fuel? A simple formula

If your au pair uses their own car for the school run, fuel is the one cost families most often get wrong, in both directions. Here is a clean way to settle it.

Two options

Per kilometre. The au pair keeps a simple log of the kilometres driven for the family and you pay a rate per kilometre. The SARS prescribed rate for reimbursive travel is the usual reference and is revised each year; many families use it or a round number close to it. It’s accurate, it’s fair when the schedule changes, and it takes a minute a week.

A fixed monthly allowance. Estimate the kilometres from the weekly grid, multiply by the rate, round up, and pay the same amount every month. Simpler, predictable, and you review it once a term.

The formula

1. Add up the kilometres for one normal week: home to school and back, school to sport and back, any regular extras. Use the odometer for a week if you’re unsure.
2. Multiply by 4.3 for a month.
3. Multiply by your rate per kilometre.
4. Round up to the nearest R50.

A Bryanston family with two schools and two sports afternoons might drive 160 km a week for the au pair’s duties. At a rate around the SARS figure that’s roughly R2,000 to R3,000 a month, which is why fuel belongs in the budget from the start.

What the allowance does not cover

Wear and tear, tyres, and services are the au pair’s cost when it’s their car, and that is why au pairs with their own cars charge a higher hourly rate than those who don’t drive. See the pocket money guide. If you would rather not pay the higher rate, provide the car.

If the au pair drives your car

• Add them to your insurance as a named driver. Most policies require it and some exclude drivers under 25 without it.
• Agree who pays the excess after an accident, and write it into the agreement.
• Fill the tank yourself or give a fuel card; don’t ask the au pair to front the cost.
• Do one drive together on the real route before the first solo school run.

Write it down

Fuel is one of the lines in a proper agreement, next to pay and hours. The contract guide has the list.