Work permits – Au pairs

The au pair:

• is at least 18 years old and has not yet reached the age of 26 when the employment permit and work permit are granted.
• commits not to be employed with any other employer in Belgium during their placement as an au pair.
• has obtained a diploma giving access to higher education, or can prove that they have attended school until at least the age of 17.
• has a basic knowledge of the host family’s everyday language or undertakes (commits?) to take an intensive language course immediately upon arrival in Belgium. If the au pair is already proficient in the host family’s everyday language, a course taught in our regional language, Dutch or other, must be taken.
• will follow courses during the placement as an au pair, doing so at an accredited institution:
  • that is recognised or subsidised by one of the communities and
  • that provides classes in the regional language or languages.
• submits proof every trimester that demonstrates that they are regularly attending classes.
• has never previously been granted a work permit in Belgium, except for a one-time extension as an au pair, for which the total period of validity does not exceed one year, and all other conditions for granting the employment permit are met.

The host family:

• has at least one child who is less than 13 years old at the start of the au pair’s stay.
• If there are any children younger than 6 years of age in the family, the applicant must prove that day care is provided during the entire maximum duration of the au pair’s stay, or until the date that the youngest child turns 6.
• ensures that each family member who is has reached the age of majority at the start of the adolescent au pair’s stay submits an excerpt from the criminal register.
• transfers a fixed monthly amount of at least 450 euros into the account of the adolescent au pair as pocket money. Periods when the adolescent au pair is inactive have no effect on this amount.
• has taken out supplementary insurance for the au pair covering the following costs in the event of illness or accident:
  • medical costs
  • pharmaceutical costs
  • hospitalisation costs.
• has taken out insurance that covers the possibility of early repatriation of the au pair due to illness or accident.
• undertakes to pay any costs incurred by the authorities (arising from the stay or repatriation of the adolescent au pair).
• provides a personal room and grants the au pair freedom of access to their home.
• gives the au pair at least one full day off every week.
• gives the au pair every opportunity to exercise their faith or beliefs.
• grants supervisory civil servants access to their home.
• does not have a valid work permit for another adolescent au pair.

• Neither the daily tasks of the adolescent au pair, nor looking after the children may be the main purpose of the stay. Tasks:
  • must not last longer than four hours per day
  • must not take more than twenty hours per week.
• The work permit and employment permit may not exceed a period of 1 year.
• The work permit and employment permit may be renewed once:
  • as long as the total period of validity does not exceed one year
  • if all other eligibility conditions are met.

What if not all conditions are met? In that case, the authorities consider the adolescent au pair to be a servant and their employment contract to be a contract for servants (see Article 5 of the Law of July 3, 1978 on employment contracts).

Mutual agreement

The host family and the adolescent au pair decide, in mutual agreement, to end the placement. The au pair is deregistered from the municipality. Both parties decide together when the last day of the collaboration will be and who will pay for the return journey (whether home or elsewhere). The host family informs the Economic Migration Department of the discontinuation of the contract and returns the work permit and employment permit.

The au pair decides to leave

If the au pair leaves of their own volition, the adolescent is breaking and ending the contract themself. The host family needs to inform the municipality of the au pair’s departure and, should the situation demand it, the local police. The host family informs the Economic Migration Department of the discontinuation of the contract and returns the work permit and employment permit.

The host family wants the au pair to leave

If the host family wants to end the contract, both parties need to agree when and how the adolescent will leave the family, when the last day of the collaboration will be, where and how any accommodation until the actual departure will be organised and who will pay for the (return) journey (flights, train tickets, etc.). The host family informs the Economic Migration Department of the discontinuation of the contract and returns the work permit and employment permit.

Conflict

In the event of conflict, the Flemish Social Inspectorate always performs an investigation, after the host family informs them that the contract has been discontinued. This way, both parties are freely able to present their version of events.

One-time opportunity to change host families

In case of early termination of the contract, the au pair youth has a one-time opportunity to change host families. The new (second) host family can use this au pair youth’s ‘remaining’ time that was not used when she was first admitted to work.
For example: an au pair youth obtains an employment authorisation with a work permit and employment authorisation for 12 months in host family A. After 7 months, the agreement with host family A is terminated. Another host family B can now apply for a new employment authorisation for that same au pair youth, but will only be able to obtain 5 months, so that this particular au pair can do a total maximum of 12 months of au-pairing.

The au pair youth cannot start immediately with the new host family but must wait for approval by the Work Permit Team. The latter re-examines whether the au pair youth, the host family and the agreement between the two parties meet the conditions. For example, if the au pair turned 26 in the meantime, he or she no longer meets the conditions.