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[quote=Anonymous]We have been using au pairs for nearly five years now, and have had at least one non-school-age child that whole time, so our au pairs have always been asked to work the full 45 hours every week.  And even on weeks when the AP might have, e.g., Monday off because it is a federal holiday so HD and I are not at work, we might still end up using the full 45 hours because we'll take that opportunity to schedule a date night.  (I don't see this as "eeking out" the full 45 hours in a vindictive way, as some posters have implied.  It is simply us taking advantage of a rare opportunity to go out, knowing that our three children, including an infant, are well-cared-for by someone who we and they already know, and who knows them and how to take care of them.)

We have never had au pairs complain about their hours.  We have been through re-match for other reasons, but not because the au pairs were resentful about working the full 45 hours.  Most of the families we know who have au pairs also have young children who aren't in school and two parents who work, and they also use all 45 hours most weeks.  Most of our au pairs' friends seem to have this schedule as well, and the ones who work less hours frequently have to work evenings and weekends - and our au pairs do not.  So I think they tend to realize that there are trade-offs with these "easier" schedules.  (We have actually noticed worse in some cases - that our au pairs' friends sometimes work MORE than 45 hours, often without extra compensation.  It is troubling that there are many families who break the rules this way, but because our au pairs always seem to have friends who are working with such families, our au pairs also tend to view the 45-hour schedule as something that could be worse.  And in any case, I think they like having nearly all weekends and evenings free.)

As other posters have pointed out, if you are clear about your schedule during the matching process, and how hard the job is going to be (as well as screening for the other qualities and experiences such as full time work in other types of jobs, etc.), and that there are other families out there who will have less hours, easier jobs, better perks, etc. - there shouldn't be resentment.  We were terrible about asking the right questions and screening during our first two AP interviewing periods.  We've since improved.  Of course, there are still always bad matches, and candidates who are good at saying the right answer just because they really want to get into the program.  But hopefully if you work hard at the interview process, and are very clear about your hours requirements, any kind of resentment about hours should be eliminated.  [/quote]

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