Au Pair Salary Guidelines for 2024

The remuneration that an au pair would expect to receive differs from one position to another, but here are some guidelines for determining a fair salary:

Offer a basic salary of between R60 and R140 per hour, depending on the experience and qualifications of the au pair, as well as the number of hours per week you require them to work. The less hours per week that they will be working, the greater the hourly rate should be to compensate fairly for this. As a guideline, an inexperienced au pair working 20 hours or more per week would expect around R60 - R70 per hour, whereas one working for 10 hours or less would expect roughly R70 - R90 per hour. A more experienced or qualified au pair would expect around R80 - R100 per hour and R100 - R140 per hour respectively for these types of positions.
On average, a full-time au pair working around 40 hours per week would expect a monthly salary in the range R10,000 - R15,000 if you require them to have their own car, and around R6,000 - R8,000 if you don't. Live-in au pairs are usually paid slightly less than this as they are receiving free accommodation from the family in addition to their basic salary.
Occasional babysitting should be remunerated at roughly the same rate as above, provided that fair notice is given to the au pair to allow them to clear their schedule.
Travelling expenses should be remunerated at roughly R4.00 to R5.00 per kilometre for all travelling done for the family in the au pair's own car during their working hours. Instead of calculating the amount each time, a set amount is often added to the au pair's salary to cover average driving expenses.

Should you be able to offer any special benefits such as accommodation (for a live-in position), use of a family's car, phone, meals etc, you should negotiate with the au pair to account for these when determining a fair salary.

An au pair's salary is usually paid either weekly or monthly, but if necessary another arrangement can be made by agreement with the au pair.