Responsibilities and boundaries

Typical au pair responsibilities may include helping children prepare for school, playing with them, assisting with simple meals, keeping children's spaces tidy and performing light household tasks connected to daily family life. Duties must be agreed before arrival and reviewed if the family's circumstances change. An au pair should not accept unsafe, illegal or clearly excessive duties. Examples include being left as the sole long-term caregiver without support, heavy professional cleaning, night work as a normal routine, driving without the correct licence and insurance, or tasks that were never agreed. Boundaries should be discussed early, calmly and in writing.