Vacation concerns with AU Pairs
Au Pairs are human too and they need off too from their daily life like all of us expect. Thus, it is important to understand their needs and requirements. Thus, if your Au pair is willing to go on a vacation let him or her go but ensure that the dates are mutually agreed upon so that your family doesn’t face any major problems when your Au pair is on vacation and you don’t have to call him or her in mid of her vacation.
For the last few weeks, our au pair has been working on vacation plans with a fellow au pair. They chose the date, cleared it with their host families….and then discovered their tour was full. The girls went back to the drawing board and chose the only other time this summer their tour was offered, which just so happened to be the same week our back-up childcare would be on vacation. Mia looked so disappointed and I felt awful, but clearly, this date did not qualify as “mutually agreed upon” and thus, we had to look for alternate dates on which we can agree mutually.
What’s this, you ask? “Mutually agreed upon” is what vacation dates must be – acceptable to both host family and au pair. Just as an au pair should never book a vacation without consulting her host family, host families also do not have the right to dictate when an au pair can have vacation solely based on their schedules or desires. The mutual respect that au pairs and host families should have for one another must extend to the realm of vacation time as well. It is very important so that your relationship with au pair doesn’t get strained over few off days.
As much as I want Mia to have every experience possible while she is here, I also need to look out for our family’s best interests. As I expected, she handled the news gracefully and understood our situation. She and her friend plan to look for a different trip, or will consider travelling in the fall. You can be sure we will do whatever we can to make her dream trip happen – finding a mutually agreed upon resolution is what being a family is all about.
Always having an au pair is like having an extended family. Neither get too strict or too lenient with your au pair as both of results will lead to situations which you don’t want to face.
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