Au pair agency fees, terms and conditions for families

ABC Au Pairs Terms and Conditions

1. In these terms and conditions, we, us and our means Lucy Meek t/a ABC Au-Pairs, PO Box 4870 Worthing, West Sussex BN11 9UN and you and your means the client.
2. These terms and conditions shall apply to any contract between you and us and such contract shall come into force upon you completing and submitting the registration form.
3. We act as an introduction agency only and any au-pairs we introduce to you shall be employed by you directly.
4. Upon receipt of your registration form, we will use all reasonable endeavours to introduce an au pair to you that matches the requirements described in the registration form.
5. If you employ any au pair that we have introduced to you, you agree to provide us with proof of your identification, such as a passport, and proof of your address, such as a recent utility bill, together with an invitation letter for the au pair setting out the terms of his/her employment and a timetable setting out the weekly schedule for the au pair. If you employ an au pair that we have introduced to you, you agree to pay us the appropriate placement fee. The placement fee for placements of three months or more is £380. The placement fee for placements of less than three months is £120.
6. If we introduce an au pair to you and, after his/her arrival, you consider the au pair to be unsuitable, we will, at our discretion, introduce a replacement au pair, again to match the requirements described in your registration form, provided that you have notified us in writing within 28 days of an au pair arriving at your home. If we are unable to introduce a suitable replacement au pair to you, we will terminate the contract and you agree to pay an administration fee in the sum of £50. We will not offer you a replacement au pair if you are in breach of these terms and conditions.
7. If you reject an au pair that we have introduced to you and the same au pair is subsequently employed by you, the placement fee will become payable in accordance with this contract.
8. Our invoices are payable on the date of issue and we reserve the right to charge interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate on any unpaid invoices. You agree that you shall be responsible for any loss or costs we incur in recovering unpaid sums from you under this contract.
9. With the exception of personal injury or death, we exclude any liability for loss or damage caused to you which arises from this contract.
10. We shall treat all information supplied by you as confidential. We shall not disclose such information to any third party without your prior permission, except where required by law or where action might be necessary to protect you or someone else. We shall treat all personal data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.
11. You agree to keep confidential any information we disclose pursuant to this contract. If you disclose any such information which results in the engagement of an au pair by a third party, you will be responsible for the placement fee that would otherwise have been paid by the third party and these terms and conditions shall apply accordingly.
12. You agree to inform us immediately if we introduce an au pair to you that has already been introduced to you by a third party. If you do not inform us, and you employ the au pair, we will presume the employment is a consequence of our introduction and the placement fee will be payable in accordance with this contract. You also agree not to employ an au pair that has been introduced to you by a third party if we have already introduced the same au pair to you; in such circumstances, the placement fee will be payable in accordance with this contract.
13. If you cancel the contract before a placement fee is due, we reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee of £50 to cover the cost of our work. You will be responsible for any expenses incurred by the au pair.
14. You agree that you will notify us of any change in your circumstances or change in your requirements. If the aforesaid changes will affect the au pair, then you should also notify the au pair.
15. It is your responsibility to be satisfied as to the suitability of an au pair before agreeing to offer him/her employment. We do not offer any warranty in respect of the suitability of an au pair we introduce to you.
16. You agree that any terms of engagement between you and an au pair will be subject to a minimum two weeks’ notice period by either party, provided that in the event of serious misconduct by either party, the other party shall be entitled to terminate the engagement immediately, however should the misconduct be on the part of the au pair, you will be responsible for providing appropriate accommodation for a period of four days from the date of termination.
17. You are responsible for ensuring that your home contents insurance policy includes cover for employers and public liability insurance for domestic workers, including au pairs.
18. If you are in breach of these terms and conditions or you fail to follow the guidelines provided, we reserve the right to remove an au pair from your home. In such circumstances, we will not offer a refund of the placement fee.
19. The contract between us and you shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and any dispute arising in connection with the contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.