One of the reasons why you want to host an au pair is so that she/he can take your children to activities.
You are one of those families who have active children and their sporting and cultural activities are not close to home, or accessible by transport. A car is essential.
An au pair who drives is one of the significant advantages in family logistics, so there are some important precautions to consider. Here’s our advice, and as always, it’s from experience.
10 tips for hiring an au pair with a driving licence
Entrusting the driving of your children to your au pair is not something to be taken lightly.
The au pair has a driving licence that she obtained in her country, which does not have the same highway code as the one in which you live, resolutely in France.
It’s important to bear this in mind.
Here’s some advice for each stage of your exchange, from your first contacts to your daily life with your family, not forgetting your integration, which is a vital phase.
As a result of Covid, young people have had delays in obtaining their driving licence and, since 2021, it has been less common for them to hold one.
Before the start
You are in contact with the au pair and would like to validate his/her level of driving.
Here are the criteria to check with the au pair:
- ask him/her what type of vehicle he/she drives: manual or automatic
- ask her how often she drives: every day, every week, several times a month or occasionally; and the environment in which she usually drives (urban, suburban, rural)
- ask him/her to film him/herself driving and share the video with you so that you can form a more accurate opinion
Finally, ask him/her if he/she likes driving and if it scares him/her to drive in a foreign country.
The highway code differs from country to country, so you can advise them to read the French highway code before they arrive.
When the au pair arrives
You have chosen an au pair and he/she will soon be arriving at your home. Here are some important points to help him/her settle in.
You must inform your car insurance company that an additional driver will be using the car and driving it on a daily basis. Some insurance companies may require a minimum age before agreeing to insure this new driver. Find out more.
Driving is the most stressful subject for many au pairs, because when they arrive, they have to familiarise themselves with your family, be accepted by your children, understand you in a new language, remember how you work and your habits, and reassure you that they can drive in an unfamiliar place with new traffic rules.
Here are a few precautionary measures that I would recommend:
- drive with her/him as a passenger and show her/him the local area and the usual routes, and explain how the car works;
- allow for a period of adjustment / anticipate that she won't be driving from the outset (at least the first week), to give her time to get her bearings;
- enrol her in a driving school and offer her 4 hours of driving to build her confidence and give her every chance, and to get an expert opinion on her ability to use the car;
- have them drive themselves on daily journeys to get them used to driving and finding their way around;
- put an A on the car as a precaution and to warn other vehicles;
The au pair’s adjustment is very important. The better it goes, the better the experience will be.
Even if enrolling in a driving school costs money, I recommend it because it will remind the au pair of the safety rules and your children’s lives are well worth this (small) investment.
During the stay
During your stay, it’s important to clarify certain points to avoid any misunderstandings, such as the conditions for using the car, how petrol costs will be covered and how journeys will be organised.
- organising journeys: clearly write in the weekly diary the journeys the au pair is to make
- the conditions for using the car: specify when the au pair can use the car. Can the au pair use the car for personal travel, and if so, how often and for how long?
- petrol costs: communicate the type of journeys for which you pay for petrol, and those, if any, which are paid for by the au pair. In this way, if after 3 successive fill-ups, the mayonnaise rises because you think the au pair is driving too much, it will be easier to talk about it with him or her if things have already been discussed.
When the au pair is autonomous and can transport your children, it’s the icing on the cake in terms of time-saving for you as parents.
This requires fairly rigorous organisation beforehand to ensure that the conditions and context are right. With this method, the experience should be (more) zen.
If you’d like to discuss this subject, join us for our webinars. Every week we organise a free webinar for host families and answer all your questions.
