There is a lot of misinformation on this thread, so anyone reading it should check out anything they think they've learned.

nannydebsays wrote:45 hours a week, no more than 10 hours a day, no more than 5.5 days worked in a week.

+1

I believe that Interexchange - AuPairUSA is the only au pair agency that is non-profit. So if you have to pick one, I'd go with them. I don't know of any that does background checks on the potential host family, so that's a major problem.

The system is set-up for easy abuse by the host family. They can abuse the au pair all they want without any consequences whatsoever. If the au pair dares to squeal, she knows she can simply get sent home. What a deal, all sanctioned by our very own State Department. Sounds like legalized slave trade. We don't even have statistics to show us the failure rates of these trade agreements.

Its just under $200 a week here - its a flat pay, so they can work from 0-45 hours a week for the same amount based on the family's schedule.

I'm in Canada and I'm curious, how much would the au pair be paid for those 45 hours? Here she would be paid minimum wage and then have room and board deducted, for a net salary of about $350 a week. However, I think most au pairs expect to only work 25-30 hours a week and would therefore net around $200 a week.

Some families and AP's work it out so that while the AP has a few extra-long days during the summer between camps, during the school year they are only working a couple hours a day instead of the 45/week permitted. So most AP's don't mind extending themselves a little in the summer. Sometimes they get a bonus or extra vacation time in exchange. I understand this isn't legal but if the AP and family are happy, then I wouldn't mess with it.

If I were you, I'd mind my own business.

Some "cheat" the system for extra cash. Some get taken advantage of.

Differs a lot between countries and employers also.

45 hours a week, no more than 10 hours a day, no more than 5.5 days worked in a week.

My son has a good friend who lives a few doors down from us. Both parents are lawyers, one is gone a lot on business trips and the other is out of the house for a good 12 hours a day. The boy comes over to us for play dates a lot, and my sons goes over there occasionally. The AP is always the one to bring him over, and she's there when my son goes over to play. I know she's working 12 hour days in the summer, there are at least a couple of weeks when they're not in camp. She's also on call during the day, if a one of the kids are sick and hone from school/camp, she's with them. She also does the kids laundry, grocery shops and makes dinner for the kids all during that time. That seems like A LOT for a 21 year old....don't you think?