The member States of the Council of Europe, signatory hereto,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its
members, in particular for the purpose
of facilitating their social progress;
Noting that in Europe more and more young persons, especially girls, are going abroad to
be placed "au pair";
Considering that, without wishing to make any critical assessment of this widespread
practice, it is advisable to define and standardise,
in all member States, the conditions
governing such "au pair" placement;
Considering that "au pair" placement constitutes in member States an important
social problem with legal, moral, cultural
and economic implications, which transcends
national boundaries and thereby takes on a European complexion;
Considering that persons placed "au pair" belong neither to the student category
nor to the worker category but to a special
category which has features of both, and that
therefore it is useful to make appropriate arrangements for them;
Acknowledging more particularly the need to give persons placed "au pair"
adequate social protection inspired by the
principles laid down in the European Social
Charter;
Considering that many of these persons are minors deprived for a long period of the
support of their families, and that as such
they should receive special protection
relating to the material or moral conditions found in the receiving country;
Considering that only the public authorities can fully ensure and supervise the
implementation of these principles;
Being convinced of the need for such co-ordination within the framework of the Council of
Europe,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
Each Contracting Party undertakes to promote in its territory to the greatest extent
possible the implementation of the provisions
of this Agreement.
Article 2
- "Au pair" placement is the temporary reception by families, in exchange for
certain services, of young foreigners who
come to improve their linguistic and possibly
professional knowledge as well as their general culture by acquiring a better knowledge
of
the country where they are received.
- Such young foreigners are hereinafter called persons placed "au pair".
Article 3
Placement "au pair" which shall initially be for a period not exceeding one
year, may, however, be extended to permit
of a maximum stay of two years.
Article 4
- The person placed "au pair" shall not be less than 17 or more than 30 years of
age.
- Nevertheless, exceptions to the upper age limit may be granted by the competent
authority of the receiving country in individual
cases when justified.
Article 5
The person placed "au pair" shall have a medical certificate, established
less than three months before placement, declaring
that person's general state of health.
Article 6
- The rights and obligations of the person "au pair" and the receiving family,
as those rights and obligations are defined
in this Agreement, shall be the subject of an
agreement in writing to be concluded between the parties in question, in the form
of a
single document or of an exchange of letters, preferably before the person placed "au
pair" leaves the country
in which that person was resident and at latest during the
first week of the placement.
- A copy of the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be lodged in the
receiving country with the competent authority
or the organisation chosen by this
authority.
Article 7
The agreement referred to in Article 6 shall specify inter alia the manner in
which the person placed "au pair" is to share the life of the receiving family,
while at the same time
enjoying a certain degree of independence.
Article 8
- The person placed "au pair" shall receive board and lodging from the receiving
family and, where possible, shall occupy
a separate room.
- The person placed "au pair" shall be given adequate time to attend language
courses as well as for cultural and professional
improvement; every facility as regards
the arrangement of working hours shall be accorded to this end.
- The person placed "au pair" shall have at least one full free day per week,
not less than one such free day in every
month being a Sunday, and shall have full
opportunity to take part in religious worship.
- The person placed "au pair" shall receive a certain sum of money, as pocket
money, the amount of which and the intervals
at which it is paid shall be determined by
the agreement referred to in Article 6.
Article 9
A person placed "au pair" shall render the receiving family services
consisting in participation in day-to-day family
duties. The time effectively occupied in
such services shall generally not be more than five hours per day.
Article 10
- Each Contracting Party shall state, by listing them in Annex I to this Agreement, the
benefits to which a person placed "au
pair" will be entitled within its
territory in the event of sickness, maternity or accident.
- If and in so far as the benefits listed in Annex I cannot be covered, in the receiving
country, by national social security legislation
or other official schemes, taking into
account the provisions of international agreements or the Regulations of the European
Communities, the competent member of the receiving family shall, at his own expense, take
out a private insurance.
- Any change in the list of benefits in Annex I shall be notified by any Contracting Party
in accordance with Article 19, paragraph
2.
Article 11
- Where the agreement referred to in Article 6 has been concluded for an unspecified
period, either party shall be entitled to terminate
it by giving two weeks' notice.
- Whether the agreement was made for a specified period or not, it may be terminated with
immediate effect by either party in the
event of serious misconduct by the other party or
if other serious circumstances make such instant termination necessary.
Article 12
The competent authority of each Contracting Party shall appoint the public bodies and
may appoint the private bodies to be entitled
to deal with "au pair" placement.
Article 13
- Each Contracting Party shall send to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe a
report at five-yearly intervals, in a form
to be determined by the Committee of Ministers,
concerning the application of the provisions of Articles 1 to 12 of this Agreement.
- The reports of the Contracting Parties shall be submitted for examination to the
Governmental Social Committee of the Council
of Europe.
- The Governmental Social Committee shall present to the Committee of Ministers a report
containing its conclusions; it may also
make any proposals designed to:
- improve the practical implementation of this Agreement;
- amend or supplement its provisions.
Article 14
- This Agreement shall be open to signature by the member States of the Council of Europe,
who may become Parties to it either by:
- signature without reservation in respect of ratification or acceptance; or
- signature with reservation in respect of ratification or acceptance, followed by
ratification or acceptance.
- Instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be deposited with the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe.
Article 15
- This Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date on which three member
States of the Council shall have become Parties
to the Agreement, in accordance with the
provisions of Article 14.
- As regards any member States who shall subsequently sign the Agreement without
reservation in respect of ratification or acceptance
or who shall ratify or accept it, the
Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date of such signature or after the
date of deposit of the instrument of ratification or acceptance.
Article 16
- After the entry into force of this Agreement, the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe may invite any non-member State
to accede thereto.
- Such accession shall be effected by depositing with the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe an instrument of accession
which shall take effect one month after the date of
its deposit.
Article 17
- Any signatory State, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification or acceptance, or any acceding
State, when depositing its instrument of
accession, may specify the territory or territories to which this Agreement shall apply.
- Any signatory State, when depositing its instrument of ratification or acceptance or at
any later date, or any acceding State,
when depositing its instrument of accession or at
any later date, by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council
of
Europe, may extend this Agreement to any other territory or territories specified in the
declaration and for whose international
relations it is responsible or on whose behalf it
is authorised to give undertakings.
- Any declaration made in pursuance of the preceding paragraph may, in respect of any
territory mentioned in such declaration, be
withdrawn according to the procedure laid down
in Article 20 of this Agreement.
Article 18
- Any signatory State, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification or acceptance, or any acceding
State when depositing its instrument of
accession, may declare that it avails itself of one or more of the reservations provided
for in Annex II to this Agreement. No other reservation shall be admissible.
- Any signatory State or any Contracting Party may wholly or partly withdraw a reservation
it has made in accordance with the foregoing
paragraph by means of a declaration addressed
to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe which shall become effective
as from the
date of its receipt.
Article 19
- Any signatory State, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification or acceptance, or any acceding
State when depositing its instrument of
accession, shall make known the benefits to be listed at Annex I in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 10.
- Any notification referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 10 shall be addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
and shall state the date from which it takes
effect.
Article 20
- This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely.
- Any Contracting Party may, in so far as it is concerned, denounce this Agreement by
means of a notification addressed to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
- Such denunciation shall take effect six months after the date of receipt by the
Secretary General of such notification.
Article 21
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the
Council and any State which has acceded to
this Agreement of:
- any signature without reservation in respect of ratification or acceptance;
- any signature with reservation in respect of ratification or acceptance;
- the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession;
- the lists of benefits listed at Annex I;
- any date of entry into force of this Agreement in accordance with Article 15 thereof:
- any declaration received in pursuance of the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article
17;
- any reservation made in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 18;
- the withdrawal of any reservation carried out in pursuance of the provisions of
paragraph 2 of Article 18;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 20 and the date on
which denunciation takes effect.
Article 22
The Protocol attached to this Agreement shall form an integral part of it.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Agreement.
Done at Strasbourg, this 24th day of November 1969, in English and French, both texts
being equally authoritative, in a single copy
which shall remain deposited in the archives
of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit
certified copies to each of the signatory and acceding States.
