Hiring Au Pair, Non-EU Family in Zurich

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hi There,

I plan to hire a live-in Au Pair to help our family with our small children. We are non-EU citizens in Zurich on a B permit.

I am aware of the information regarding Swiss Au Pair requirements as set out below and have found a few suitable applicants we would like to interview, but we need help with the step-by-step process of getting this done. Who do I call, what forms do I need and what is the process?

I have a contract that was written by a colleague and accepted by the authorities, which we are planning to adapt. Once we have found a suitable person and have an agreed contract, do I visit the Office of Emigration? Then what? What issues have people come across that I should be aware of or look out for?

Thank you in advanced for your help!

Known info:

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Aupair Visa Switzerland - Au Pair Program in Switzerland[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']General Visa Conditions:[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] You will receive room and board with a host family in exchange for approximately 25-30 hours of weekly work (housework, baby-sitting, etc.) [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] You have the right to 1 1⁄2 days off per week (at least one Sunday a month) and 4 weeks' vacation per year (5 weeks if you are less than 20 years old). [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] You will be paid between 600 and 700 CHF per month depending on the age, experience and hours of work. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Employee’s share of of social costs "AVS" can be deducted from the salary. This amounts to 7% of the salary (including the payment in nature, so room and board accounted at about 30 sfr per diem), so a total salary of about 1400 sfr. /month, for a cost to the EE of about 100 SFR. (although, many families will bear this cost, but it isn't an obligation). [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Your employer is required to enroll you in a language school within 4 weeks of entering the country, and will cover 50% of these expenses. There is a legal obligation of adjusting the au pair time schedules so that she can participate in language courses. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Tax at source, employee’s contributions to the OAP/II/EO/UI, half of the premiums for health insurance and the total premium for non-occupational accidents may be deducted from the aupair’s pay. The aupair is obligated to pay taxes on income in the year the 19th birthday is attained. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] The insurance is assumed paid by the au pair, EU insurances will be valid in CH. An accident insurance will be payable by the employer. No additional health insurance will be paid by the employer. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] The housewife or houseman does not have the same mother tongue as the au pair. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] The guest family’s child or children are under 16 years of age. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] The housewife or houseman is present during at least half the au pair’s working hours. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Families and individuals who have no children may not employ au pairs. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Rules for EU citizens seeking AuPair Jobs in Switzerland[/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] EU nationals are between the ages of 18-30. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] EU nationals do not need a special visa, only a residence permit. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] EU nationals can extend their stay in Switzerland up to 2 years. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Rules for Non-EU citizens seeking AuPair Jobs in Switzerland[/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Non-EU nationals are between the ages of 18-25 [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] All nationalities are accepted, however, families hiring non-EU citizens must work with a licensed Swiss agency to obtain the required visa and work/residence permit. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Non-EU candidates can stay for one year only, and the aupair must leave Switzerland at the end of the 1-year contract period. [/FONT] [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] Permits for au pairs from abroad are issued subject to quota regulations. Limits are placed on the numbers of individuals from specific countries who may come to Switzerland. [/FONT] Source: http://aupair-visa-switzerland.greataupair.com/

2
Info below without formatting:

Aupair Visa Switzerland - Au Pair Program in Switzerland

General Visa Conditions: You will receive room and board with a host family in exchange for approximately 25-30 hours of weekly work (housework, baby-sitting, etc.) You have the right to 1 1⁄2 days off per week (at least one Sunday a month) and 4 weeks' vacation per year (5 weeks if you are less than 20 years old). You will be paid between 600 and 700 CHF per month depending on the age, experience and hours of work. Employee’s share of of social costs "AVS" can be deducted from the salary. This amounts to 7% of the salary (including the payment in nature, so room and board accounted at about 30 sfr per diem), so a total salary of about 1400 sfr. /month, for a cost to the EE of about 100 SFR. (although, many families will bear this cost, but it isn't an obligation). Your employer is required to enroll you in a language school within 4 weeks of entering the country, and will cover 50% of these expenses. There is a legal obligation of adjusting the au pair time schedules so that she can participate in language courses. Tax at source, employee’s contributions to the OAP/II/EO/UI, half of the premiums for health insurance and the total premium for non-occupational accidents may be deducted from the aupair’s pay. The aupair is obligated to pay taxes on income in the year the 19th birthday is attained. The insurance is assumed paid by the au pair, EU insurances will be valid in CH. An accident insurance will be payable by the employer. No additional health insurance will be paid by the employer. The housewife or houseman does not have the same mother tongue as the au pair. The guest family’s child or children are under 16 years of age. The housewife or houseman is present during at least half the au pair’s working hours. Families and individuals who have no children may not employ au pairs. Rules for EU citizens seeking AuPair Jobs in Switzerland EU nationals are between the ages of 18-30. EU nationals do not need a special visa, only a residence permit. EU nationals can extend their stay in Switzerland up to 2 years. Rules for Non-EU citizens seeking AuPair Jobs in Switzerland Non-EU nationals are between the ages of 18-25 All nationalities are accepted, however, families hiring non-EU citizens must work with a licensed Swiss agency to obtain the required visa and work/residence permit. Non-EU candidates can stay for one year only, and the aupair must leave Switzerland at the end of the 1-year contract period. Permits for au pairs from abroad are issued subject to quota regulations. Limits are placed on the numbers of individuals from specific countries who may come to Switzerland.

3
And this is what's wrong with Internet Exploder

4
I think you may will have problems about the language part of the regulation. As I understand, and with a talk I had a few month ago with the federal office responsible for Au-Pairs (We at awewa planning to get a license as an agency as we have a special language course for Au-Pair conform to the 120 h a year) the main spoken language in the family should be the language of the living part in Switzerland. So for Zürich this would mean German.

Contact Pro Filia, Beckenhofstrasse 16, 8006 Zürich, Tel. 044 363 55 01 for any questions you may have, as this organisation where also involved with the regulations which are now valid.

On an other tread I translated the regulation for Au-Pairs as follow, and it is the seam for all cantons in Switzerland according to there represent authorities.

5
Thank you for that feedback, very helpful!

6
I am confused (or in denial...)

We are also a non-EU family in Zurich and I have been searching the greataupair website.

A few of the "rules" seem to make it impossible for us to employ an au pair, namely having to be native speakers of the local language and having to be home for half the au pair's working hours.

I am a full time working mother and was hoping to employ someone from an EU country (somehow think that might be easier?), who could speak German and English.

Has anyone been able to overcome these obstacles, or have alternative suggestions?

I noticed a suggestion somewhere about getting a nanny as opposed to an au pair. How would the visa application process differ in that instance? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

7
If you read through the earlier posts in this Thread, the principal thought behind being an au pair is explained. The idea is not that an pair takes over the responsibilty for the child or children all day. Learning the language, which is one of the basic ideas, means listening to and talking with another adult in that tongue.

There are quite a few sites you could look through on this Thread on Child Care .

8
Hi

I am picking up this thread as I'm in similar situation. I am American my wife is Italian, we would like to get an au pair (preferably Italian, French would be OK). We both speak German but it would be hard to convince somebody we speak it together in our home.

Of course we can enroll the person in German courses, and our son speaks German at the creche. We can also speak German to her/him.

Anybody know if there are updates to this law? It must be that there are many expat families in Zurich who dont speak German but have au pairs.

THanks

9
Hi there

As far as I know, Switzerland does not consider an Au Pair as an employee. Think of her/him as an older student who wants to have a little experience in exchange for an extra pair of hands and some pocket money. This is not the same as a nanny, who must be paid a nanny wage in accordance with his/her experience. If you don't follow this, you will likely be outside the law. And yes, it is very expensive.

10

Here are another couple of companies who might be able to advise you.

http://www.perfectway.ch/en/for-fami…formation.html

http://www.profilia.ch/

An Italian or American au pair would be out.

“The host family and the Au Pair can not have the same mother tongue, be related in any kind of way or have the same nationality”

I think your main difficulty would be persuading the authorities that you speak German well enough to qualify under the rules. Although expensive it might be better to engage a nanny or domestic helper instead.

11
This is one of the better (simple language) descriptions I have heard for the concept of an au pair. As has been noted, the au pair "system" has a very regulated list of requirements. And the au pair term is often misused to cover a person who looks after children, runs a home, cooks, cleans and works 40+ hours per week. This is not an au pair.

You are "better off" to talk in terms of a nanny or house employee if you want to have more flexibility and get around any requirements about language or level of responsibility. However, once you are out of the au pair system, you are talking about another salary level (of course with added flexibility, age of the individual etc.).

12
Thats really the point. We looked at nannies (that we would not have to get permit for) and they charge was 300 CHF a day!

13
I am not a labour lawyer or an expert on this matter but there seems to be no (legal) way around this.

Switzerland -- or at least my gemeinde -- simply does not let you pay whatever you want, even if someone accepts the wage. If you try to pay (legally) below what is deemed appropriate (and I'm guessing this varies) by the community, you will receive a sternly worded letter saying you MUST raise your wage or else. This is why so few people in Switzerland employ a full-time nanny/babysitter. You can either look at it as social justice or you can see it as a way for the tax authority to get their money. The less you pay, the less they get.

Its unlikely you will find a legal, full time babysitter who comes to your home for a lot less than the amount you stated above. Its simply not done here.

You may want to consider a Tagesmutter.

14

Yes, because they are self-employed and have to pay their own insurances and taxes, something you would have to pay if you hired a full time nanny through an agency.

“The employer (family) is obligated to register their employee for a accident insurance
The employer (family) is obligated to register their employee at the AHV/IV/EO/ALV BVG/Tax institutions”

So although the minimum monthly salary on the Perfect Way website of CHF3,500 works out at around CHF140 per day (25 days a month used) you would also be liable for the insurances and taxes - which makes CHF300 a day about right I’d say. And iirc the minimum monthly figure is laid down by law.

15
Just as an aside, hiring a youngish girl (20 years -24) from abroad to take care of young children in Switzerland is not super ideal. It takes a lot of effort on the part of the parent to help them integrate.

Unless they have friends close by, they will likely get really lonely, as its not that easy to make friends quickly in Switzerland. This goes double if they can't speak the local language. And there aren't so many activities for young children to go to like there are in the UK and the US so its hard for them to meet people. Perhaps its different if you live in a big city.

The babysitter also has to be happy for her/him to mind your children in a loving and effective way, and that means having enough money in her pocket to live in Switzerland. We all know what that means.

Unless you are prepared to also take care of the live-in foreign babysitter (who likely has no local friends) emotionally, you will likely have a succession of 3-month tearful stays and endless frustrations.

Switzerland poses its own unique challenges, and this includes childcare.

16
What is a Tagesmutter and how does that differ from Au Pair or Nanny in terms of the conditions and costs?

17

A child minder. You take your kids to their place a few times a week or whatever suits, leave them there during the day and collect them when you return home.

18
Have you thought about trying to find a Swiss youngster to come and help you - there are some agencies (church based I think) that specifically organise intra-swiss au pair exchanges. I am not sure about the language requirements but it is less complicated with respect to permits etc. We had a young woman stay with us, she was Swiss of Portugese extraction and a Francophone. She wanted to learn german better and took classes at the Micros and because we spoke English at home she also learnt that a bit more too. It was a bit informal because I didn't work so we didn't really have an absolute requirement for an au pair, but it was lovely having her around.

19
We are in a desperate situation and this seems like it could be the only option. I am Canadian and live in Schaffhausen, having moved here for work on an L permit. My husband works in US. We were planning to get an Au Pair so that I can go to work full time after mat leave, but as I do not speak German this does not seem like a viable option anymore. Can someone please advise if there is any other way to get help during the day?

20
Have you thought of getting a day nanny (Tagesmutter)? Could get quite pricy but it'll do and you would have time to work full time.