Working as an au pair in France: pay, hours & visas

This is a guide, not legal or immigration advice.

Rules change, vary by region and depend on your exact arrangement and nationality. Everything here was researched from official sources and dated, but figures go out of date — check the official links on this page before you rely on any of it, and get proper advice on your own visa position.

Where you stand

If you are an EU national aged 18 to 30 you are a stagiaire aide familial étranger. If you are from outside the EU you are a jeune au pair, on your own visa and convention. There is also an employé au pair, who is a genuine employee paid entirely in board and lodging. URSSAF is explicit that French labour law applies to the au pair statuses too — you are not outside employment protection.

What makes France different: France sets a minimum monthly indemnity by law, fixed as a multiple of the minimum garanti. Your host family also pays social contributions on a flat rate — and you pay nothing at all.

The numbers

Minimum indemnity

€326.25–€391.50 a month

75 to 90 x the minimum garanti

Hours

25 a week

maximum

You contribute

Nothing

no employee contribution, no CSG, no CRDS

Rest

One full day a week

including at least one Sunday a month

Can you go?

EU nationals aged 18 to 30 sign a placement agreement before leaving home. Non-EU applicants need a convention on the official form and a long-stay jeune au pair visa, applied for through the French consulate.

Placements run from three months to a year, and a jeune au pair placement can be extended to a maximum of two years. Enrolment in French language or civilisation classes is compulsory, and your hours must be arranged around them.

Three things worth doing

You pay no contributions at all

The host family pays employer contributions on a flat basis. You owe no employee contribution, no CSG and no CRDS. If anything is being taken off your indemnity, ask why.

The family must register you within eight days

They declare you to URSSAF within eight days of your arrival and then file every quarter. That declaration is what protects your rights, so it is worth confirming it happened.

Your classes are protected time

Enrolment is compulsory and the schedule has to accommodate it. Language classes are not something you fit around the children.

Check it yourself

Every figure on this page came from these. Rules change — if something matters to you, read it at the source.

URSSAF — Employé au pair, stagiaire aide-familial, jeune au pair → URSSAF — Taux et barèmes →

Keep your own record

Whatever the rules say where you are, they only help you if you can show what you actually worked. NannyTank counts your hours as you work them, works out overtime at the legal rate where there is one, and turns the month into a claim your employer approves in one tap.

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