Planning December now: au pair cover for the long holiday

Schools close in early December and reopen in mid-January. If your au pair is a student, there’s a good chance they’re going home for most of it. Families who sort this out by mid-October have options; families who wait until the last week of term have a scramble.

Step one: ask

A single question at the next handover: “What are your December plans?” Most students know by October. Some stay in town and want the hours; many go home. Either answer is fine. Not knowing is the problem.

Option one: your au pair works full days

If they’re staying, agree the December grid now. Full days are typically 07:30 to 17:30. Pay the normal hourly rate or agree a full-day rate slightly below it; a fixed weekly amount for the holiday keeps it simple. Confirm which days around Christmas and New Year they’ll have off, and remember public holidays are paid under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Option two: short-term holiday cover

Gap-year au pairs, students who live locally, and au pairs between placements all look for December work. On Au Pair Nation, set your start and end dates to the holiday and say in your profile that it’s holiday cover. Be clear about full days and pay. Interview and do a paid trial exactly as you would for a term-time au pair; the hiring guide applies.

Option three: share an au pair

Two families with children of similar ages in the same suburb share one au pair for full days, alternating homes or using one. It halves the cost and gives the children company. Write one agreement with both families’ names and keep the pay and hours clear.

Option four: holiday clubs plus family

A holiday club three mornings a week, grandparents for two afternoons, and your own leave for the week between Christmas and New Year. It works, and it’s usually cheaper, but it takes coordination.

What to settle in writing

• The au pair’s last working day of the year and first of the next.
• Whether December is worked, leave, or unpaid.
• If worked: the grid, the rate, the days off.
• If holiday cover: the dates, full-day rate, and who the cover reports to.

Keeping January simple

Whatever December looks like, confirm the January restart date before the au pair leaves. Students come back for registration in late January or early February; schools reopen earlier. Plan the gap. The school holidays article has the shape of the whole year.

The deadline

Mid-October. After that, the pool of holiday cover shrinks as candidates commit elsewhere, and your own au pair has made plans. Ask this week.