The au pair must be aged between 18 and 25 years old.

The mother tongue of the au pair must not be the one spoken in the Canton (Township/Municipality) in which the au pair wishes to work.

No information has been found about which language skills an au pair ought to have to be able to work as an au pair.

Recommendation:

In order to work as an au pair in one of Switzerland's cantons, language skills are recommended which correspond to at least Level B1 of the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages"

The family must be composed of at least one child; the eldest being of primary school age.

Some Cantons (Municipalities) have additional rules for the host family:

• they cannot be a sole trader
• they cannot work in the food and hotel industry
• the head of the family must not work more than 22 hours a week

Additional details herabout in accordance with the individual Cantons can be located under "Links and downloads".

Persons employed as au pairs, are welcomed into families in return for certain services in order to improve their language skills and increase their general knowledge through a better understanding of the host country. For this reason, the linguistic expression of the host family and the region that the family is living in must be different from the language of the au pair.

The host family must be:

• of Swiss nationality
• a C EU/EFTA permit (settled foreign nationals)

Au pairs from third countries (not from EU/EFTA countries) can only receive permits if they are placed through an agency which is approved and licensed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). 

Within the host family, a parent must follow the au pair for at least half of the daily working hours of the latter.