Anonymous wrote:We are getting an au pair for the first time and are a little curious about what kinds of 'chores' it's OK to have the au pair do. She won't really be working 45 hours a week because DS will be in preschool 2 half days a week. Is it alright to ask her to do things like chop veggies, do laundry (for DS), etc. when DS is at preschool? What are the standards for household duties?

Thanks!

Per State Department regs, au pairs can be asked to do any child-related household tasks, e.g. children's laundry, preparing meals for children, cleaning up after children. As long as the chores don't take her over the 45 hours and are legitimately child-related (preparing veggies for the kids and doing the kids' laundry seems to fit that category precisely), they are appropriate to ask the AP to do.

As to other household duties - APs can be asked to contribute to the household in the way that anyone living there would (e.g. taking out garbage, helping clean up at shared mealtimes, etc.) - though it is a good rule of thumb to remember that she is, e.g. only 1/5 of the household if there are two parents and two kids. So taking out the garbage 1/5 of the time, etc. might be appropriate. Or assigning one particular task that the AP is responsible for, but she is not responsible for anything else, e.g. emptying the dishwasher in the morning. Essentially - APs are not there to do the household chores that are not related to childcare. But I think families can expect them to contribute to the household similarly to if they were a roommate, keeping in mind that the AP is not 1/2 the roommates, but probably only 1/4, 1/5 or less.

Also - I have heard that some families who have cleaning help do not have the cleaners clean the AP bedroom and bathroom, and leave that task to the AP. This seems letter-of-the law okay to me, but pretty stingy.

My AP does all the laundry for the children and keeps their room and toys picked up. She also prepares veggies for the children (we prepare them in bulk because we use them for snacks and meals for the kids). She has to keep her room and bathroom picked up, but the cleaning ladies clean it when the do the house. She also helps to clean up after dinner. I've told her she doesn't have to, and I mean it, but she probably does a couple of times a week.

As far as timing goes, she stays on top of it and does it as she can (during naps, during the day, at night). I think it is fine to have her do it while DC is at preschool.

We are getting an au pair for the first time and are a little curious about what kinds of 'chores' it's OK to have the au pair do. She won't really be working 45 hours a week because DS will be in preschool 2 half days a week. Is it alright to ask her to do things like chop veggies, do laundry (for DS), etc. when DS is at preschool? What are the standards for household duties?

Thanks!