A friendly arrangement still needs proper employment terms.

The Employee is employed as an Au Pair / Domestic Assistant (Live-in). The Employee shall provide childcare and support activities only for the Children identified in this Agreement. The Employee shall not be required to care for any other child, including a relative’s, visitor’s or family friend’s child, unless the Employee agrees in advance. Main duties include, but are not limited to: Agreed childcare and household duties If other duties are agreed Other agreed duties The Employee’s duties may evolve from time to time in line with the reasonable needs of the household, provided that any changes remain consistent with the Employee’s role, agreed working hours and the terms of this Agreement. The Employer shall give the Employee reasonable notice of any material proposed change to the Employee’s duties. No material change shall take effect unless agreed in advance by both Parties in writing. The Employee shall at all times perform duties faithfully, diligently, and in the best interests of the Children and the Employer. The Employee shall not be required to perform heavy domestic work, commercial work, work for another household or business, or duties materially outside the childcare and light household-support duties described in this Agreement.

The safety, welfare, and best interests of the Children shall be the Employee's primary concern at all times while carrying out their duties. The Employee shall immediately report to the Employer any accident, injury, illness, safeguarding concern, inappropriate behaviour, or other matter affecting the safety or welfare of the Children. The Employee shall treat all the Children with dignity, respect, patience, and care at all times. The Employee shall not use corporal punishment, physical force, humiliation, intimidation, threats, abusive language, inappropriate discipline, or any form of degrading treatment towards a child. The Employee shall follow all reasonable instructions provided by the Employer regarding supervision, routines, safety procedures, medical needs, dietary requirements, and childcare arrangements. The Employee shall not leave a child unsupervised or in the care of another person except in accordance with the Employer's instructions or where necessary to protect the Children's immediate safety. Any breach of this clause shall be treated as a serious disciplinary matter and may constitute gross misconduct.

If the au pair has a fixed working schedule The Employee's normal paid working schedule is: Agreed working schedule The Employee's normal number of paid working hours shall be Agreed weekly hours hours per week. If fixed core hours and flexible paid hours are agreed The Employee's normal working arrangement consists of fixed core hours together with guaranteed flexible paid hours. The Employee's fixed core working periods are: Agreed working schedule The Employee is guaranteed Guaranteed flexible paid hours flexible paid hours per week in addition to the core hours above. Those flexible hours form part of the Employee's normal paid weekly hours. Flexibility applies to when those hours are worked, not to whether the hours are paid. The flexible hours may be scheduled only within the following agreed scheduling window: Agreed flexible-hours window The Employer will normally give the Employee at least three days' notice of the timing of flexible hours. A shorter period may be used only where the Employee agrees or where a genuine unforeseen emergency makes the normal notice impracticable, subject always to any greater notice requirement or other protection under applicable law. The Employee's total normal paid working hours, comprising core and guaranteed flexible hours, shall be Agreed weekly hours hours per week. The Employee's average working week, including any additional hours, shall not exceed 48 hours, calculated over the applicable reference period in accordance with the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. The Employee is entitled to the following minimum rest breaks in accordance with the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997: A rest break of 15 minutes where more than 4.5 hours have been worked; A rest break of 30 minutes where more than 6 hours have been worked, which may include the above 15-minute break; A daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period; and A weekly rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours per seven-day period, normally following the daily rest period, subject to applicable law. The Employer shall arrange the Employee's working schedule so that the Employee is not routinely required to work every weekend. The Employee shall receive at least two periods in each calendar month consisting of two consecutive days free from work, each of which shall include either a Saturday or a Sunday. Any weekend work must form part of the Employee's agreed paid working hours and shall be arranged subject to the Employee's statutory daily and weekly rest entitlements. The Employer shall give reasonable advance notice of any weekend work. The Employer will maintain records of the Employee's working hours in accordance with applicable law. Any hours beyond the agreed normal weekly total must be agreed in advance between the Parties, recorded and paid at the applicable hourly rate, including any applicable Sunday premium. Additional hours must not cause the Employee's working time to exceed the statutory maximum. A genuine emergency may justify a temporary change to the timing of work where prompt action is reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of the Children or another person. Recurring or reasonably foreseeable childcare or household needs are not an emergency for scheduling purposes and should be incorporated into the agreed paid working arrangements. Where the Employee works on a Sunday, they shall receive reasonable compensation in accordance with section 14 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. The applicable Sunday compensation arrangement is set out in the Remuneration clause.

The Employer recognises the Employee's right to disconnect from work-related communications outside their agreed working hours and will have regard to the Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect. Except during agreed working time, a separately agreed paid on-call or standby arrangement, or where reasonably necessary in a genuine and unforeseen childcare emergency, the Employee is not required to perform work, remain available for work, monitor work-related communications or respond to calls, messages or other communications from the Employer or household. Where the Employee lives at the Property, residence at the Property does not of itself constitute working time, on-call duty or availability for work. During off-duty periods, the Employee is entitled to genuine uninterrupted rest, is free to leave the Property and is not required to remain available to provide childcare or supervision to the children. For the purposes of this clause, a genuine emergency means an unforeseen situation in which prompt assistance is reasonably necessary to protect the immediate health, safety or welfare of the children or another person and which cannot reasonably wait until the Employee's next working period. Recurring or reasonably foreseeable childcare or household needs are not genuine emergencies. Where out-of-hours work or availability is required on a recurring or planned basis, it must be incorporated into the Employee's agreed paid working arrangements or separately agreed as paid additional hours or a paid on-call arrangement. Where the Employee performs work or provides assistance outside agreed working hours in response to a genuine emergency, that time shall be treated as working time and recorded and remunerated as required by this Agreement and applicable law. The Employee's statutory rest periods and the working-time arrangements set out in the Hours Of Work clause shall be respected at all times.

This employment is conditional upon the Employer being reasonably satisfied that the Employee is suitable to carry out the childcare duties described in this Agreement. Before commencing unsupervised childcare duties, the Employee shall provide the references, identity documents, qualifications, experience records and other relevant information reasonably requested by the Employer for the purpose of assessing the Employee's suitability for the role. The Employer may contact referees and verify information provided by the Employee, provided that any checks are proportionate to the role and are carried out in accordance with applicable data-protection law. Where reasonably required having regard to the nature of the role and the Employee's previous countries of residence, the Employer may request that the Employee obtain an available police clearance certificate, criminal-record certificate or equivalent document from the relevant country. The Employer shall not require the Employee to obtain Garda vetting where Garda vetting is not lawfully available for the private employment arrangement. The Employee warrants that, to the best of their knowledge, they have disclosed any criminal conviction, court order, safeguarding restriction or other matter that would materially affect their suitability to carry out the childcare duties described in this Agreement, except where the Employee is not legally required to disclose the matter. The Employee shall notify the Employer as soon as reasonably practicable if, during the employment, they become subject to a criminal charge, conviction, court order, driving disqualification, safeguarding restriction or other circumstance that may materially affect their ability to perform their duties safely or lawfully. Where a reasonable concern arises regarding the Employee's suitability to work with children, the Employer may take proportionate precautionary measures, including temporarily removing the Employee from childcare duties or suspending the Employee on full pay while the matter is fairly investigated. Any decision arising from such an investigation shall be made in accordance with the disciplinary procedures in this Agreement and applicable employment law.

The safety, welfare, and best interests of the Children shall be the Employee's primary concern at all times while carrying out their duties. The Employee shall immediately report to the Employer any accident, injury, illness, safeguarding concern, inappropriate behaviour, or other matter affecting the safety or welfare of the Children. The Employee shall treat all the Children with dignity, respect, patience, and care at all times. The Employee shall not use corporal punishment, physical force, humiliation, intimidation, threats, abusive language, inappropriate discipline, or any form of degrading treatment towards a child. The Employee shall follow all reasonable instructions provided by the Employer regarding supervision, routines, safety procedures, medical needs, dietary requirements, and childcare arrangements. The Employee shall not leave a child unsupervised or in the care of another person except in accordance with the Employer's instructions or where necessary to protect the Children's immediate safety. Any breach of this clause shall be treated as a serious disciplinary matter and may constitute gross misconduct.

The Employee agrees to respect the privacy of the Employer's household. This obligation applies during and after the employment and covers: personal, financial or sensitive information about any member of the household; photographs, videos or personal details of the family or the Children; and details of household routines, security arrangements or personal matters. The Employee must not use or disclose such information except where reasonably necessary for the proper performance of their duties, with the authority of the Employer or other person to whom the information relates, or as otherwise permitted by this clause or applicable law. Nothing in this clause prevents the Employee from making a protected disclosure, reporting suspected wrongdoing or criminal conduct, co-operating with or providing information to An Garda Síochána, a regulator, law-enforcement body or other competent authority, obtaining confidential legal advice, consulting an appropriate trade-union representative, making a disclosure required by law, or disclosing information where reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of any person. A serious breach of this clause may constitute misconduct or gross misconduct and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, following an appropriate fair procedure. This clause survives termination to the extent that the information remains confidential and the obligation is lawful.

Personal mobile phone use shall be kept to a minimum while supervising the Children and shall not interfere with the Employee's duties or the safety and welfare of the Children. Mobile phones may be used during emergencies, rest breaks, or where reasonably required for the performance of the Employee's duties. The Employee shall not publish, upload, transmit, or share photographs, videos, recordings, personal information, or other content relating to the Employer, the Children, the Property, or the household on social media or with third parties without the Employer's prior written consent. The Employee shall not permit any of the Children to appear in social media content, live streams, online videos, or similar digital content without the Employer's prior written consent. Any photographs, videos, recordings, or information obtained during the course of employment shall be treated as confidential and handled in accordance with the Confidentiality and Data Protection clauses of this Agreement. Any breach of this clause may constitute a disciplinary matter and, in serious cases, gross misconduct.

The Employer will deal with disciplinary, performance, grievance and dignity-at-work matters, including complaints of bullying or harassment, fairly and reasonably and in accordance with applicable law and any applicable code of practice. Before taking any disciplinary action, the Employer will tell the Employee what the concern is, give the Employee enough information to understand it, give the Employee a fair opportunity to respond, and take that response into account before reaching a decision. The Employee may be accompanied at any disciplinary or grievance meeting by a friend, family member, trade-union representative or other person of the Employee's choice. Where the Employee's first language is not English, the Employer will not unreasonably refuse a request for an interpreter or for the assistance of a person who can translate. The Employer will confirm any formal disciplinary decision, and the reasons for it, to the Employee in writing. The Employee may appeal by telling the Employer, within 5 working days of receiving the decision, that they wish to appeal and why. Where reasonably practicable, an appeal will be considered by a person who was not involved in the original decision. Because a household employer may not have an uninvolved manager or other internal person available, the Employer may appoint a suitably independent external person, such as an external HR adviser, to hear or assist with the appeal. Where that is not reasonably practicable, the Employer will reconsider the decision afresh, taking account of the grounds raised by the Employee, before confirming or changing it. If the Employee has a grievance or concern about their employment, working hours, duties, treatment, or the accommodation or living arrangements connected with the employment, the Employee should raise it with the Employer as soon as reasonably practicable. This may be done informally in the first instance. If the matter is not resolved informally, or the Employee prefers to raise it formally, the Employee may set the grievance out in writing. The Employer will meet the Employee to discuss it within 10 working days, give the Employee a full opportunity to explain the concern, and confirm the outcome and the reasons for it to the Employee in writing. The Employee may appeal the outcome within 5 working days. Misconduct may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Gross misconduct may result in dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice, following a fair procedure appropriate to the seriousness and circumstances of the matter. Nothing in this clause prevents the Employee from taking independent advice, making a protected disclosure, or exercising any statutory right to complain or to refer a matter to the Workplace Relations Commission or any other appropriate authority. The Employer will not penalise, retaliate against or discriminate against the Employee for doing so, or for raising a grievance in good faith. During any probationary period the Employer may use a shorter and simpler version of these procedures, proportionate to the household setting. This does not permit discrimination, penalisation or retaliation and does not remove or limit any statutory right of the Employee.

The Employer may suspend the Employee from some or all duties on full pay and contractual benefits where the Employer reasonably considers suspension necessary to investigate an allegation, protect the children or another person, preserve evidence, avoid interference with an investigation, or otherwise manage a serious matter relating to the employment. Where an allegation or concern involves suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, dishonesty, violence, serious misconduct, unsafe childcare, misuse of medication, financial impropriety or any other matter which could reasonably present a risk to the health, safety, dignity, property or welfare of the children, the Employer may immediately remove the Employee from duties involving the children and prohibit contact with the children while the matter is investigated. Suspension is a neutral precautionary measure and does not constitute a disciplinary sanction or imply that any allegation has been established. The Employer shall keep the need for suspension under review and shall keep the period of suspension no longer than is reasonably necessary in the circumstances. During suspension, the Employee must remain reasonably available to participate in any investigation, meeting or other fair procedure and must comply with reasonable instructions intended to protect the children, other members of the household, evidence or the integrity of the investigation. Where the Employee does not live at the Property, the Employer may require the Employee not to attend the Property or any other place at which duties are performed and not to contact the children or members of the household during the suspension, except where expressly authorised by the Employer or reasonably required for the investigation or by law. Where the Employee lives at the Property, suspension from duties does not of itself terminate the Employee's contractual accommodation entitlement. However, where the Employer reasonably considers that the Employee's continued presence at the Property could present a risk to the children or another person, interfere with an investigation, or otherwise make continued residence inappropriate during the suspension, the Employer may require the Employee temporarily to leave the Property. Where the Employee is required to leave the Property during a period of paid suspension, the Employer shall make reasonable arrangements for suitable temporary alternative accommodation, or otherwise preserve the value of the Employee's contractual accommodation entitlement, for so long as that entitlement continues under this Agreement, unless a different arrangement is lawfully agreed or permitted. Nothing in this clause prevents the Employer from contacting An Garda Síochána, emergency services, a healthcare professional, Tusla, the Health Service Executive or any other safeguarding or competent authority where the circumstances reasonably require it.