How many hours can an au pair work in the Netherlands?
Au pair working hours in the Netherlands: 30 hours per week, 8 hours per day. A practical guide to hour limits, tracking, and scheduling for host families.
Hosting an au pair in the Netherlands comes with rules around working hours. They exist to protect au pairs: the arrangement is meant to stay a cultural exchange rather than become full-time employment. This is what every host family should know.
Au pair hour limits in the Netherlands: the rules
Dutch au pair guidelines set clear limits for working hours:
- Maximum 30 hours per week
- Maximum 8 hours per day
- Maximum 5 working days per week
- At least 2 full days off per week
These limits are common practice in Dutch au pair placements and help keep the arrangement fair and sustainable for everyone. It is a good idea to document these in your house rules, so your au pair knows exactly what is expected.
What counts as working hours?
Any time your au pair spends on household duties or childcare counts toward their hours. This includes:
- Preparing meals
- Cleaning and tidying
- Doing laundry
- Supervising or playing with children
- School pick-ups and drop-offs
- Grocery shopping for the household
Time spent on personal activities, Dutch language courses, or social outings does not count, even if children are present in a casual, non-supervisory setting.
Tracking hours: why it matters
Keeping a clear log of working hours helps you and your au pair stay aligned and avoid misunderstandings. It also makes it easy to share documentation with your agency if needed.
Common approaches include:
- Spreadsheets: simple, but easy to forget to update
- Shared calendar entries: visual, but hard to add up
- An hour-tracking app: keeps the totals for you
Track hours automatically?
Opairly adds up the hours automatically from the weekly schedule. Start your free trial →
Opairly tracks hours automatically from completed tasks, so there is nothing to log by hand. You see daily and weekly totals at a glance and get a warning as you approach the 30-hour cap. Start your free trial →
Structuring a typical week
A well-organized schedule helps prevent hour overruns. Here's an example of a balanced 28-hour week:
| Day | Hours | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 6h | School run, afternoon childcare, light cleaning |
| Tuesday | 5h | Morning childcare, cooking dinner |
| Wednesday | 5h | Laundry, grocery shopping, school pickup |
| Thursday | 6h | Full afternoon childcare, meal prep |
| Friday | 6h | Morning cleaning, school run, evening babysitting |
| Saturday | - | Day off |
| Sunday | - | Day off |
The key is predictability. When your au pair knows what to expect, the relationship works better for everyone. Wondering what an au pair arrangement costs in total? Check our overview of au pair costs in the Netherlands.
Tips for staying within the limits
- Plan the week in advance and assign tasks with estimated durations.
- Update the weekly schedule as soon as something changes. Reconstructing the week from memory on Friday goes wrong.
- Aim for 25 to 28 hours, which leaves room for unexpected tasks.
- Discuss the schedule with your au pair regularly.
- Let an app add up the hours so nothing slips through.
Don't forget to also arrange proper leave and holiday time for your au pair. Days off are just as important as working days.
How many hours per week is normal for an au pair?
Most host families in the Netherlands schedule between 25 and 28 hours per week. This leaves a comfortable buffer below the 30-hour maximum and accounts for occasional extra tasks. Staying under 28 hours is a good rule of thumb. Need a starting point? Check our free weekly schedule templates for host families.
Bottom line
The guidelines themselves are simple: at most 30 hours per week, 8 hours per day, and two full days off. The work is in keeping the schedule current. Plan the week ahead, update it when things change, and aim for under 28 hours, and you will rarely run into trouble.
Sources
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