Au pair youths, young people who spend time in foreign families in exchange for board and lodging, perform household chores and possibly take care of children to learn the language and culture, often fall victim to exploitation in our country. That is what FAIRWORK Belgium says on Thursday. “The host families are mainly looking for cheap labor to assist them. Altruism is rarely the case,” it sounds. The organization therefore calls for au pairs to be recognized as employees.
To be allowed to stay in Belgium as an au pair, young people who do not come from the European Economic Area or Switzerland must have a valid work permit. In 2022, 553 work permits B were issued in our country, the majority in Flanders. In addition, 502 Schengen visas type D with the au pair motif were issued to nationals of countries outside the European Union, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland. Au pairs from another EU country are therefore not included in these figures.
FAIRWORK Belgium, known until 2018 as the Organization for Undocumented Migrant Workers (ORCA), has been contacted since 2014 in 578 au pair files. Checks by the Flemish inspection services show that the rules are not complied with in more than a third of the cases, but abuses were also found in Wallonia and Brussels.
“In theory, an au pair youngster is a person who comes to Belgium to learn the language and culture by living with a family. In exchange for staying with the family, the au pair can be asked to help in the household”, explains FAIRWORK Belgium. “The legislation stipulates that the young au pair may perform tasks for a maximum of twenty hours per week and four hours per day. She does not mention work and does not specify which tasks may be involved. The au pair receives 450 euros pocket money. That amount is not indexed since 1999.”
FAIRWORK Belgium asks that au pairs be recognized as employees. “The tasks assigned to young au pairs are generally seen as the responsibility of a woman in a household and are hardly seen as work in our society. Yet it is work and should be rewarded as such, even if those tasks are performed by an au pair youngster.”
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