We have been involved in the au pair placement field since early 1993. In 1994, Lilian sent au pairs overseas under the name Au Pairs Abroad. Later that year the name changed to Au Pairs Abroad & at Home as the demand for local au pairing emerged.

Finally changing to Au Pair at Home as our focus became local placement entirely.
We initiated the local placement of au pairs in Cape Town and found that our passion lay with childcare and family rather than youth-travel and au pairing overseas.

Au Pair at Home has the special knowledge, understanding and experience to assess your family's needs, and the ability to match these to the ideal au pair. We take pride in selecting and placing high calibre candidates with the families' best suited to them.

About Us

Lilian - Since very young has had a keen interest in family and people dynamics and studied Psychology at UCT. She spent time overseas where she worked in various related fields including having her own playschool for 5 years. She returned to South Africa with her 3 young children and experienced first hand the balancing act between being solely responsible for her family, quality time and growing her business. She has expanded her knowledge and people skills by reading extensively and doing courses in counseling, coaching, facilitation skills and a learner facilitation course.

Caron - Joined Au Pair at Home 7 years ago on the administration side of the business. Due to her background in HR and Recruitment in the corporate field she soon thereafter starting involving herself in all aspects of placement of au pairs. She is married and has 2 daughters.

Tarn - Joined us over 2 years ago as our general assistant having had many years experience in administration and as a PA. She has been such a success that we see her evolving with the demands of the business. She is the mother of a 2 ½ year old little boy.

Tracey - is studying a university degree, worked for Au Pair At Home's offices in her gap year and has been an au pair for the past 4 years. She joined as permanent staff in our Newland's office earlier this year to assist Lilian with admin and the interviewing of prospective au pairs. She thus brings to the business her skills as a student / au pair and office administrator.

Our Clients - Even though we have proven expertise through all our ‘hands-on' years in this very specialised childcare field, we do not forget that we gained tremendous personal knowledge and learning's from our humbling experiences with families and their children.

Our Candidates - Many a candidate has come into our offices with such people and childcare wisdom that we have been further inspired to connect these two groups through the right matching processes whilst always focussing on the needs of the children involved.

Philosophy and Our Approach to Business

We are personally passionate about the work that we do and view our core values and standards of business ethics to be on par with the integrity and standards of professionals in the psychology and educational arenas. See our code of ethics and standards of best practice.

Working parents, particularly working mothers are at the forefront of the work-life balance debate in the western world. Woman live with the necessity and reality of wanting to grow their careers, but they also want to grow a healthy family unit and provide their children with all they need in terms of education and stimulation - ensuring that their children are kept abreast with their peers.

We believe that children require plenty of care, love and attention. Parents play the important role of core provider with the au pair supporting this role, leaving quality time for the parents and children on their return from work. By hiring the right au pair who agrees with the parents' values and approach to child rearing, the family is bringing into the circle another loving party to fill in the gaps and complete the family unit.
Au Pair at Home seeks to raise the standards and expectations of the kind of childcare and education that parents wish to offer their children. We continuously review our approach to doing business in order to remain in the forefront of setting standards of professionalism.

Code of Ethics and Standards of Best Practice

There is no organisation in South Africa monitoring and setting guidelines for au pair / professional nanny agencies in SA nor are there any standard guidelines for ‘ways of being' as a professional carer of children in this specialised field of home-based care.

Since our inception in 1994 we have our own standards of best practice and work ethics but have researched internationally to find an organisation that we could join. This was not the case as our South Africa version of what an au pair or professional nanny is, is unique and should have particular guidelines that apply solely to our circumstances.

Au Pair At Home has adopted some of the guidelines from the International Nanny Association (INA), the Association of Nanny Agencies (ANA), The Good Nanny Agency Guide (GNAG) and the International Au Pair Association (IAPA).

We really connected with the Early Childhood Australian Inc Code of Ethics and have, where appropriate, incorporated much of their values and ethics.

Au Pair At Home plans to assist in creating such a body offering guidelines and setting standards nationally in the near future - The South Africa Association Of Au Pair Agencies (SAAAPA).

Our values and their processes:
• Leadership and excellence
• Respect and integrity
• Honesty and openness
• Collaboration and diversity
• Justice and democracy
• Courage
• Inclusivity
• Social inclusion of children
• Social and cultural responsiveness
• Education

Below ‘Au Pair' shall mean Au pair, Tutor, Learner Facilitator, Night Nurse and Baby Specialist.

In Conducting Business As Au Pair At Home We Strive:
• To maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct in the operation of our business and in our dealings with families and au pairs.
• To develop positive relationships based on mutual trust and open communication.
• To conduct ourselves with the highest standards of integrity, honesty, competence, objectivity and truthfulness in all  the interactions  we have with our clients.
• To act in ways that advance the interests and standing of our specialised recruitment profession.
• To support standards and practices that are fair, non-discriminatory and are in the best interests of children and families.
• To listen to and learn from families, to acknowledge and build upon their strengths and competencies, and support them in their role of nurturing children.
• To encourage and be respectful of the special relationship between children and their families and incorporate this perspective in all our business interactions with children.
• To respect the rights of children as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1991) and commit to advocating for these rights.
• To state our terms of business to Families and Au Pairs with clarity.
• To keep Family and Au Pair records confidential and to use proprietary information only with their permission.

In Doing Au Pair Placements:
• To act in the best interests of all children.
• To recognise children as active citizens participating in different communities such as family and schools.
• To develop partnerships with families and engage in shared decision making where appropriate.
• To recognise the rights of families to make decisions about their children.
• Respect the uniqueness of each family.
• To be sensitive to the vulnerabilities of children and families and respond in ways that empower and maintain the dignity of all children and families.
• To only put forward candidates suited to the au pair job in question. Suited by means of the au pair's personality, qualifications and experience as well as meeting the requirements and needs in question.
• To ensure that all candidates going forward for an interview with a family have been personally interviewed on a face-to-face basis by Au Pair At Home.
• To implement our strict interview policy which includes: assessing the potential candidate, inspecting original childcare certificate(s) and other relevant certificates, written evidence of references, as well as checks with previous employers or others. Criminal record check. Also confirmation of identity using a minimum of 2 identifications: Identity document or passport; drivers license; birth certificate or a utility bill.
• To continually undertake reflection, critical self-study, continuing professional development and engage with contemporary theory and practice.

In Supporting Placements
• To develop to the best of our ability realistic and practical solutions to problems that may arise for either the Au Pair or The Family.
• To listen with empathy, patience and understanding.
• To develop positive relationships based on mutual trust and open communication.
• To mentor au pairs placed through our agency, if they so wish.
• To provide, when requested, ongoing constructive feedback and assessment that is fair and equitable.
• To help, on request with conflict resolution between the parents and the au pair they have placed
• To seek and build collaborative professional relationships.

What is an Au Pair in the South African context?

The term "Au Pair" is the equivalent of the overseas version of English nanny, Nanny, Mother's helper or Governess depending on the family's needs. We apply the word Au Pair to be at times - Baby Specialist, Afternoon Au Pair, 'Big' Sister or 'Big' Brother, Professional Au pair or Au Pair / PA to the family.

Au Pairing, as a form of childcare is gaining enormous popularity, fast being acknowledged as a needs-based necessity for the futures of the children of the working parent family. Career-orientated families, single parents and working mothers see hiring an au pair as an essential in order to sustain a well-balanced (healthy) family life. Many primary and high schools are in principle recommending the hiring of an au pair, particularly for families with working parents, as they have seen the positive impact the right au pair can have in a pupils' development and their scholastic achievements.
The basis of all au pairing positions is to look after children of all ages in their respective home's and surroundings, whilst providing plenty of fun and learning opportunities in an environment safe for the children. A special bond and friendship develops between the au pair and children she takes care of.

For the child-caregiver and those with a passion for children, being an au pair in South Africa is becoming a recognised career choice as well as an option whilst studying.
There are different kinds of au pairs to match the varying types of childcare needed for different age groups - A professional au pair may be well qualified to care for newborns to 6 years old and have qualifications in childcare but she might not be the candidate for a 14 year old teenager with an enquiring mind and a desire to surf the net to source material for a school project or for a homework assignment. In this case a university student/au pair might be a better candidate, as would be the person with tertiary education who has chosen to work with children as opposed to being office bound.

Au Pairing has  proved popular as a way of keeping children of working parents abreast with other children of the same age and strata - the accent being that an au pair aids a child's development by building the child's self esteem, spending one on one time in educating and exposing that child to interests and extra murals that are part of their discovering their world.

These professionals play a major role in supporting the family structure, enabling parents returning from a difficult day to concentrate on enjoying parenting.