Guide for hiring an au pair in Sweden

This article about hiring an au pair is part of Diretto’s guide to how it works to become a host family and hire an au pair in Sweden.

How does it work to hire an au pair in Sweden?

First and foremost, it is good to know that private individuals in Sweden themselves can hire someone to help in the home, whether it is an au pair, nanny or help in the garden – and use the rut deduction to reduce the tax cost. Hiring yourself is more economical than going through a company. With Diretto, it becomes easy to manage salary, tax and rut deductions when you as an individual become an employer.

What is rut deduction? Read about it on Swedish Tax Office’s website »

Here are some matters that you may review in order to comprehend whether the au pair concept is right for you.

What is an au pair?

Au pair is a babysitter who comes from another country and who wants to receive cultural and / or linguistic exchange while working for a family with childcare and simple household chores. Au pair means “equal to”, which means that the au pair must be treated as a family member, even if it is formally about an employment.

You can not be an au pair in your home country and you are not an au pair if you do not live in the family where you work, then it is called a nanny or babysitter. Of course, it can also be an option to solve childcare if it suits the family better.

Will it suit you and your family to hire an au pair?

Do you and your family feel that it is a challenge to get a career, housework and family together? Are you interested in other cultures and have a room left over? Then maybe an au pair could be something for you.

Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of the au pair concept »

How to find an au pair

There are a number of different ways to get an au pair in Sweden.

Read Diretto’s summary on how to find an au pair »

What does it cost to hire an au pair?

Having an au pair can be an affordable solution for childcare if you have a room over at home. It is also an opportunity to get to know someone from another culture.

Read more about the cost of au pairs here »

Do you need a contract to your au pair?

Yes, it is necessary to establish a contract or employment contract with your au pair.

Diretto provides free template for contracts with au pairs »

Visa

Au pairs who are not from an EU country need a residence permit. Read more here » (Swedish)

What insurance does an au pair need?

Au pairs from a non-EU country need to be insured.

Read more about insurance here » (Swedish)

Use Diretto for salary, tax and “rut” or “rot” deduction

As a private individual and employer, you can handle the administration manually. But for from SEK 69 per payment, you can easily handle everything in Diretto’s service, you can handle the salary, tax and any “rut” or “rot” deduction. The employee automatically receives a salary specification. On our page Diretto.se, you can calculate what the cost will be.