Dear host families,
We hope that everything is going well with you and your au pairs! We would like to inform you about the important and special developments to the au pair program and at our agency.
In this e-mail:
-
Au pair event program and Dutch language course
-
On holiday with or without your au pair
-
Procedures for arrivals in September and October 2023
-
Lock on door au pair room
-
Au pair duties on departure from the Netherlands
-
New colleague
-
Maternity and parental leave
|
|
|
In recent months, together with large group of au pairs, we have once again, enjoyed fun events. For example, we went to a colorful Keukenhof and we participated in an educational Scavenger Hunt in The Hague. We were thrilled, that so many au pairs visit our excursions and notice that it often does au pairs good to be surrounded by so many like-minded people of different nationalities. We would like to draw your attention to our upcoming Welcome Meeting which will be held on the 16th of September. For this event, we hope to welcome all au pairs who arrive this summer for a pleasant and above all educational day. For the planning of further events, we would like to refer you to our event program on our website with the consideration that in September 2023 the event program for 2024 will be compiled and published. If you have any suggestions for a (large-scale) cultural event, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at info@aupairinternational.nl, preferably in the month of July!
It is recommended that au pairs attend at least two events per year, but the more the better of course as far as we are concerned.
|
|
|
|
|
On 30 September 2023, our Autumn Dutch language course will start. Via your portal account you may register your au pair for this course. Here you will also find the brochure with more details and the costs. Or click here for the brochure.
|
|
On holiday with or without your au pair
|
The holidays are just around the corner and you may already have nice holiday plans, with our without your au pair. If your au pair stays at home during your holiday, you should leave some money for food and drinks. We recommend an expense about 10 euros per day for this. If your au pair is travelling with you, remember that your au pair is not allowed to perform his or her usual tasks abroad. As a guest, it makes sense for her to join the family, but she can't be expected to babysit or be scheduled for household chores. Au pairs can travel freely in the Schengen area with their residence permit document. They must at all times take their passport while travelling outside of the Netherlands.
|
|
Procedures for arrivals in September and October 2023
|
If you wish to invite a new au pair with an arrival in September or October 2023, we kindly ask you to register this au pair with our agency as soon as possible. Due to the high season, we are extremely busy and there may be delays in scheduling interviews. Thanks in advance for taking this into consideration.
|
|
Lock on door au pair room
|
The IND has drawn up a new brochure for au pairs, which states that the au pair’s room must be able to be locked from the inside. In this context, we kindly ask you to comply with the possibilities for such a lock. We would like to suggest that if a lock is not possible, to consider placing a slider on the existing door or a hook. Of course, the safety and privacy of the au pair are also important and agreements must be made with the au pair, whether or not the host family will enter the au pair's room, when it is necessary.
|
|
Au pair duties on departure from the Netherlands
|
We would like to draw attention to the importance of completing certain administrative tasks when the au pair leaves. We inform your au pair extensively about these tasks and the portal also offers a very clear and step-by-step overview, but we regularly see that au pairs leave without having completed these departure tasks, which causes an administrative aftermath of the placement, which can also have consequences for your family - failure to deregister from your address. We therefore ask you to discuss these tasks together prior to the departure of your au pair and to ask for our help in case of uncertainties or further questions. In this context, it can be useful to open his or her portal step-by-step plan together with your au pair and go through the departure steps point by point.
|
|
|
We are excited to announce a new colleague joined our agency in June of this year. Barbara Grootendorst is our new account manager. Below is a brief introduction:
'June 12 I started as an Account Manager at Au Pair International. I am involved in various account management tasks such as maintaining contacts with host families and au pairs, conducting interviews with new au pairs and monitoring the progress of their stay in the Netherlands and helping with any problems. I did a technical study (Industrial Design Engineering) but then worked in very diverse working environments, especially commercially. I have lived abroad with my family for 13 years, which has brought me into contact with different cultures. In 2020 we moved back to the Netherlands due to COVID. I have three children aged 14, 16 and 18 who attend a Dutch secondary school in The Hague, where we have been living for 2 years. The eldest has just finished his final exams and is now going on a gap year, perhaps as an au pair! In my spare time I like odd jobs in the house, cooking and traveling. This week we are in Greece for a sailing trip! '
|
|
Maternity and parental leave
|
Our colleague Julia is happily expecting a daughter. She will go on leave on September 30, 2023 and expects a return in early spring 2024. Our colleague Wouter is expecting his second child in August and will therefore be absent a little longer in the last summer months.
|
|
|
|
We wish everyone a wonderful summer holiday with lots of fun and sunny activities for you and your au pair.
-Team Au Pair International
|
|
|
|