How does your au pair reimburse for personal use of your vehicle?

[Anonymous]

We have a little notebook in the car and ask her to write down approximate mileage for personal trips and not to worry if it's just to the local grocery store or mall. We charge a per mile fee based on how much gas costs and don't do any "wear and tear" charge. We had one au pair who was driving about 80 miles per day to visit her boyfriend and had another au pair who I think maybe drove the car personally for about 80 miles total her entire year with us (we stopped even charging her for it). I think it is completely reasonable to expect for au pairs to pay for transportation for personal use. Why wouldn't it be???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a little notebook in the car and ask her to write down approximate mileage for personal trips and not to worry if it's just to the local grocery store or mall. We charge a per mile fee based on how much gas costs and don't do any "wear and tear" charge. We had one au pair who was driving about 80 miles per day to visit her boyfriend and had another au pair who I think maybe drove the car personally for about 80 miles total her entire year with us (we stopped even charging her for it). I think it is completely reasonable to expect for au pairs to pay for transportation for personal use. Why wouldn't it be???

You are not allowed to control the au pair
Au Pair has to have freedom of movement. This means that an au pair must have access to transportation, be it a bus or a train or a car. The transportation must be safe. One she can use during weekends, work days and evenings. It must be safe. You cannot demand she takes the train in a high crime neighborhood where there is a risk of being attacked on her way home

It is not your personal slave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a little notebook in the car and ask her to write down approximate mileage for personal trips and not to worry if it's just to the local grocery store or mall. We charge a per mile fee based on how much gas costs and don't do any "wear and tear" charge. We had one au pair who was driving about 80 miles per day to visit her boyfriend and had another au pair who I think maybe drove the car personally for about 80 miles total her entire year with us (we stopped even charging her for it). I think it is completely reasonable to expect for au pairs to pay for transportation for personal use. Why wouldn't it be???

Because it depends where you live, I think it would be very unfair for a family who lives in a rural area or far from public transportation to expect their Au Pair to have to pay for personal use of the car from their stipend when without it they would be completely isolated. I think making sure the AP has access to a social life and activities is part of the role of being an host family. It doesn't mean allowing APs to do 100miles round trips everyday but normal trips to the mall/bowling alley/next town over, shouldn't really be charged imo.

[Anonymous]

We do not "charge" the AP for personal use; we have a third car --it is a dedicated AP car. We reimburse her for the gas for the miles she drives related to the kids based on our estimate of the miles. Due to the insurance "rating," we do loosely track the total number of miles so we don't go over the annual limit. (This also helps to ensure we're not providing transportation for the whole cluster.) She is responsible for keeping the gas tank full. We always start a new AP with a full tank of gas and go with her to the gas station for the first fill-up (which we also pay for).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a little notebook in the car and ask her to write down approximate mileage for personal trips and not to worry if it's just to the local grocery store or mall. We charge a per mile fee based on how much gas costs and don't do any "wear and tear" charge. We had one au pair who was driving about 80 miles per day to visit her boyfriend and had another au pair who I think maybe drove the car personally for about 80 miles total her entire year with us (we stopped even charging her for it). I think it is completely reasonable to expect for au pairs to pay for transportation for personal use. Why wouldn't it be???

You are not allowed to control the au pair
Au Pair has to have freedom of movement. This means that an au pair must have access to transportation, be it a bus or a train or a car. The transportation must be safe. One she can use during weekends, work days and evenings. It must be safe. You cannot demand she takes the train in a high crime neighborhood where there is a risk of being attacked on her way home

It is not your personal slave

Actually I don't think there's any rule that you give access to transportation. You have to provide them transportation to meetings. But there's absolutely no requirement that I provide her access "during weekends, work days and evenings". (We do, but we're not required to).

"Personal slave"? Oh please. I'm actually curious now -- are you a disgruntled AP or do you know people in this situation? If not stop it on a public forum where people are going for information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a little notebook in the car and ask her to write down approximate mileage for personal trips and not to worry if it's just to the local grocery store or mall. We charge a per mile fee based on how much gas costs and don't do any "wear and tear" charge. We had one au pair who was driving about 80 miles per day to visit her boyfriend and had another au pair who I think maybe drove the car personally for about 80 miles total her entire year with us (we stopped even charging her for it). I think it is completely reasonable to expect for au pairs to pay for transportation for personal use. Why wouldn't it be???

You are not allowed to control the au pair
Au Pair has to have freedom of movement. This means that an au pair must have access to transportation, be it a bus or a train or a car. The transportation must be safe. One she can use during weekends, work days and evenings. It must be safe. You cannot demand she takes the train in a high crime neighborhood where there is a risk of being attacked on her way home

It is not your personal slave

Lots of assumptions here--where did we start mentioning high crime neighborhood--unless you equate public transportation with high crime. If that's the case, I can't even....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk about nickel and dimming. I can see if she's driving to NY, but God's sake, for the movies?

Is this how she should use the measly stipend you give them?

This. Don’t be ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Well, probably not the answer you are looking for, but we have an AuPair credit card for her use. She uses it for gas (all gas), her personal groceries, and outings with the kids.

We live in Ashburn so our AuPair does drive a lot. Even then the gas is a drop in the bucket. Her car is small and doesn't guzzle enough for me to nickle and dime her over it.

Only thing I ask is no DC with the car. She's perfectly fine driving to the metro and spending her own money once she's on metro for sight seeing. But, do I'm not going to ask her to repay me for gas from Ashburn to West Falls Church, lol! However if she takes the kids in, I pay all of their metro fare and all expenses.

[Anonymous]

I have never let any of my 4 APs drive my one and only car. They get a bus/metro pass and a limited ride-share allowance.

Done.

[Anonymous]

This thread is 6 years old.