Au Pair Holiday

How many days of paid holidays are the Au Pairs entitled to?

Usually, the Au Pair gets from 1 week to 4 weeks of paid holiday per 12 months of the Au Pair program.

The direct answer depends on many factors:

Host Country Au Pair program regulations
Contract between the Au Pair and the family
Length of the Au Pair stay abroad

This table can shed more light on this case.

Number of working hours as well as minimal number of free days per week are established by official program regulations of the Host Country.

Au Pairs usually work 25 to 35 hours per week depending on the host country and the family needs. Au Pairs also have days off and holidays during the program. In addition to these, there are also bank holidays according to the law of the host country. They need to be mentioned in the Au Pair contract as well.

We recommend to discuss the holiday period with the Au Pair as soon as possible. That way, both family and Au Pair can make the proper arrangements.

Au Pair holidays and days off

In the following table you can find the number of holiday days and free days per week for each country.

Country	Free days per week	Paid holidays*
Australia	1,5	1 week in the period of 6 months or bonus payment
Austria	1	4 weeks in the period of 12 months
Belgium	1	2 weeks in the period of 12 months
Canada	min. 1	2 weeks in the period of 6 months
Denmark	1	1 week in the period of 6 months
England	min. 1 (1x per month a Sunday)	2 weeks in the period of 12 months
Finland	min. 1	1-2 weeks in the period of 6 months
France	1,5 successive days	1 week in the period of 6 months
Germany	1-2	1 week in the period of 6 months
Ireland	min. 2 successive days	1 week in the period of 6 months
Italy	min. 1 (1x per month a Sunday)	2 weeks in the period of 12 months
Luxembourg	3 evenings and 1 day	2 weeks in the period of 6 months
New Zealand	min. 1 (1x per month a Sunday)	2 weeks in the period of 6 months
The Netherlands	1,5	2 weeks in the period of 12 months
Norway	1,5	25 days in the period of 12 months
Sweden	1 (1xper month a Sunday)	4 weeks in the period of 12 months
Switzerland	1,5	4 weeks in the period of 12 months
Spain	min. 1 (1x per month a Sunday)	2-4 weeks in the period of 12 months
Turkey	2 + 4 evenings	2 weeks in the period of 12 months
USA	1,5 + 1 weekend per month	2 weeks in the period of 12 months

*The table presents recommendations. All arrangements concerning holidays should always be discussed by the Au pair and the Host Family.

Au Pair on holiday - how does it work?

Depending on the Host Country regulations the Au Pair should get a given number of paid holiday days. Still, in case of the Au Pair program the concept of holiday is confusing and the interpretation varies from case to case.

Some families take the Au Pair with them when setting off on holiday journey and this time may be understood as Au Pair’s holiday. In such cases it’s important to remember that during the holiday the Au Pair should not fulfill the standard tasks and should also have some free time.

The holiday can also be spent in different ways: for example, the Au Pair can visit her/his family during this time. The Au Pair can also travel through the Host Country, this way getting to know the new environment better. It depends on her/his decision how to spend the free time and the Host Family should be supportive. At AuPair.com you can find guided tours through the most popular Host Countries.

Whatever the interpretation of the Au Pair holiday is, the contract should contain detailed clarification so any future misunderstanding can be easily avoided.

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