Are you a real au pair?

Au pair is not just a word, nor is it a synonym for childminder/babysitter or cleaner.. An au pair is an official status that can only be allocated when you sign and register an official Belgian model agreement at the municipality, regardless of whether the au pair is a European citizen or not. If you […]

Tips for gathering documentary evidence

If you have a smartphone, use it to gather evidence. To make sure you don’t lose the evidence if your smartphone is lost or stolen, store this information in the cloud.

Au pair agencies

Au pair agencies have no official authorisation for their operations and activities and are not monitored by the government. For this reason, it’s important that both the host family and au pair are well informed about the programme’s legal conditions.

How can I enforce my employment rights?

Some tips

Holidays and national holidays

Holiday As a service voucher employee, you are entitled to paid holiday from your second year of working.. The number of days depends on the number of days (and hours) that you worked in the past year. The general rule is that if you worked the whole of the past year, you will have a […]

Work clothing & travel expenses

Work clothing Work clothing (and its maintenance) must be provided by the employer: Travel expenses Your employer (the company) must pay you an allowance for travel expenses. The allowance must be paid from the first kilometre in the following cases:

Temporary unemployment

Benefits If you are declared temporarily unemployed, you are entitled to unemployment benefit, which is calculated on a daily basis. The amount of the benefit will depend on certain indicators. This benefit is paid by your trade union or by the Auxiliary Fund for Unemployment Benefit (HVW). In addition to these benefits, your employer (the […]

How much should you earn?

*From 1 March 2026 Important:

Employment contract & Working hours

General rules The general rules for an employment contract apply but there are also specific rules for service voucher employees: Fixed term or permanent

Which tasks are you allowed to perform?

Permitted tasks Here is a list of the activities which must be carried out inside the home and the tasks that may be carried out outdoors: These allowable tasks may only be carried out in the voucher user’s personal environment and never in the function of their professional life. So an employee may never be […]