The 30-hour limit includes babysitting
Germany allows no more than six hours of household help and childcare in a day and no more than 30 hours in a week. Evening babysitting is not a separate allowance. If a family schedules 30 daytime hours and then asks for Friday-night babysitting, that night pushes the week over the limit. Calling the extra time “help”, “family time” or “being flexible” does not change what the au pair is doing.
The official guidance allows an occasional exception by prior agreement, but the extra time must be returned as time off. That is not permission to advertise a routine 35-hour week. Write the normal week down before either person travels. Include school runs, meal preparation, bath time, bedtime cover and any period when the au pair must stay home because the parents are out.
Free time is a rule, not leftover space
An au pair must have at least one and a half full days off each week, at least four free evenings each week, and at least one free Sunday each month. A free evening means the person is not responsible for the children and can leave the house. Being told that the children are asleep but the au pair must remain available is babysitting, not free time.
The schedule must also leave room for a German course, religious practice, cultural events and excursions. A family should check the course timetable and travel time before agreeing a start date. A nominal free afternoon is not useful if the nearest suitable course is an hour away and the au pair must be back for pickup.
What the family actually pays
The current Bundesagentur für Arbeit figure is €280 a month in pocket money. It is a flat amount and does not fall because the family happened to need fewer hours in one week. It is also not a wage that buys unlimited availability. If you see €260 on an agency page, that page is stale. Use the government figure.
The family must contribute up to €840 a year toward an actual German course. The guidance describes this as €70 a month or a lump sum, and says the family must additionally pay necessary travel to the nearest suitable course. The family also provides meals and a private room without charge and pays the required health and accident insurance, including cover connected with pregnancy and birth.
Age, language and length of stay
The au pair must be at least 18 when the placement begins and must be under 27 when applying for the residence permit. In practice that is the 18–26 age band. The official guidance expects basic German at A1 level and says the diplomatic mission or foreigners authority assesses it. A profile written in English does not remove that requirement.
A German au pair relationship lasts at least six months and no more than 12 months. Germany does not treat repeated short placements as a way around the maximum. The purpose is cultural and language exchange inside one host family, not an open-ended domestic job.
Leave, notice and the end of a placement
A full-year placement carries four weeks of paid holiday. For a shorter placement the official calculation is two working days for every full month. A trip with the host family counts as holiday only when the au pair has almost no duties and is not required to be present. If the au pair is doing childcare on the trip, it is work.
The Bundesagentur says the written contract must deal with ending the relationship; without an agreed notice period, early termination normally needs mutual agreement unless there is a serious reason. The European model uses two weeks. Put that period, the move-out date, final pocket-money payment and travel arrangements in writing. Neither side should use accommodation as leverage to force extra work during notice.
Other paid work is not part of the permission
A non-EU au pair residence title is for the au pair placement. It does not create a general right to take another job. The Bundesagentur guidance also says an au pair who stays behind during the family holiday may not work for neighbours or friends. Families should not sell spare hours to another household, and au pairs should not accept cash childcare on the side.
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have different immigration formalities, but the working conditions of a genuine au pair arrangement still matter. Nationality changes the permission route; it does not turn a 40-hour nanny job into a lawful au pair week.
Before either side commits
Write one ordinary week in plain text with start and finish times. Add the hours yourself. Mark the four free evenings, the one-and-a-half free days, the monthly free Sunday, the language course and travel. List the €280 pocket money, course contribution, insurance and room. If the family needs more than 30 hours, the answer is not a more persuasive profile. The family needs a different childcare arrangement.
Keep a dated copy of the advert and agreement. If the week changes after arrival, record the requested hours and the hours actually worked. A clear record is useful in an ordinary disagreement and essential if a report later needs evidence.
Questions people ask
- Does babysitting count toward Germany’s 30 hours?
- Yes. The official limit covers household duties including childcare. Evening babysitting is not an extra allowance.
- How much pocket money does an au pair receive in Germany?
- The Bundesagentur für Arbeit states €280 a month as a flat amount.
- Can an au pair take another paid job in Germany?
- A non-EU au pair permission is tied to the placement and does not permit another job. The official guidance also bars work for another family during the host family’s holiday.