Taking your nanny, butler, or PA with you for a summer in Europe sounds simple. You already employ them. They know your family. Why wouldn’t they just come along?
Because employment laws change at every border. The contract you signed in New York may not protect you in London or Paris. The visa your nanny holds might not let them work in the country you’re visiting. Get it wrong and you could face fines, unpaid tax bills, or even prosecution.
Morgan & Mallet International helps families with staff across our global offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Geneva, and Dubai. We see these situations all the time.
Can I take my nanny or housekeeper with me when I travel abroad?
Yes, but you need a valid work visa, a contract that covers international travel, and insurance for the countries you’re visiting. Get those in place before you go and you can do it legally.
Traveling nannies earn $70,000 to $150,000 a year in the US, according to Morgan & Mallet’s 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report. They earn more because the job is more complicated. They have to manage different legal systems, different time zones, and travel maybe for months at a time.
Morgan Richez, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet: “The rich families, they live in different locations and they move. They are in Dubai during the winter, after they go during the summer to the UK or US. They don’t want to employ many people everywhere in the world. They prefer to travel with the staff.”
Only 4.82% of nannies in Morgan & Mallet’s database travel regularly with families. Only 2.36% can do rotational work.
Does US employment law apply when my household staff works overseas?
Not always. Employment law follows the worker, not the employer. If your housekeeper works in France for more than a few weeks, French labor law applies to their working hours, rest days, and overtime. Your US contract doesn’t override that. Whichever country your employee spends the most working days in is the one whose rules apply.
Laurine Mallet, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, sees this all the time. A New York lawyer came to the agency needing a traveling nanny for the summer across the UK, France, and Dublin. “We told her, how many days are you going to spend in the UK? How many days in France? How many days in Dublin?”
The nanny spent most of her time in the UK, so the contract was written under UK law, with travel to France and Dublin written into the terms.
The contract should be based in the country where the employee spends the most working days. If your staff splits six months in the US, three months in the UK, and three months in Dubai, which country’s contract do you use? Morgan says most employment lawyers don’t specialize in domestic workers. That gap creates risk.
Does my nanny need a work visa to travel with me?
It depends on their passport and how long you’re staying. A US passport holder can enter most European countries for up to 90 days as a tourist, but tourist entry doesn’t mean they can work there. A butler serving dinner at your rented villa in Provence is working, even if it feels like a holiday.
For short trips of two or three weeks, the rules are not always very clear and vary by country. Anything longer than that almost always needs a proper work visa.
For staff with non-US passports, it gets harder. A housekeeper on a UAE visa can’t just fly to London for the summer and start working. The UAE visa doesn’t cover the UK. Morgan confirms this comes up a lot where families hire housekeepers in Dubai, where salaries are lower, and then want to bring them to Europe. The visa doesn’t work that way.
Passport matters. According to Morgan & Mallet’s placement data, employers hiring traveling staff mostly look for candidates with EU, UK, or North American passports. A nanny with a British passport can work in the UK and move around Europe with far fewer hurdles.
What should a traveling nanny or staff contract include?
A traveling household staff contract should cover which countries the employee will work in and how many days in each location. It should say who pays for flights, accommodation, and meals. And it needs to spell out how working hours apply across time zones and whether you need extra insurance. A standard US employment contract won’t cut it for staff who cross borders.
Rachel Dixon, recruiter at Morgan & Mallet, advises clients to write expectations clearly from the start: “Write privacy expectations clearly. Explain them during onboarding. Reinforce them through daily practice.”
Travel terms need the same treatment. If you expect your personal assistant to be available during a 14-hour travel day, that needs to be in writing.
The US Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers minimum wage and overtime for domestic workers in the US. But when your employee works abroad, you might also need to follow local rules on maximum hours, rest days, and public holidays. The EU Working Time Directive caps average working hours at 48 per week across member states.
How much does it cost to take household staff abroad?
A traveling nanny in the US costs $70,000 to $150,000 a year in salary alone, according to Morgan & Mallet’s 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report. Then add flights, accommodation, and travel insurance. Visa processing if needed. And a travel premium of 25 to 40% above the base rate.
For a housekeeper earning $90,000 to $160,000 in the US, that travel premium adds $22,500 to $64,000 a year.
On the employer side, you still owe FICA, workers’ comp, and health insurance while your employee is abroad. A payroll service bundles those into one monthly bill. If you’re managing payroll yourself, you need to track what you owe in every country where your staff works.
NDAs push costs higher too. Privacy agreements add 15 to 20% to base pay across all roles, according to Morgan & Mallet’s placement data. A traveling PA with a high-profile family can end up costing far more than the salary.
Do I need to pay taxes in another country for my household staff?
Potentially, yes. If your employee works in another country for more than a few weeks, you could owe employer taxes, social contributions, or pension payments there. It doesn’t matter where the contract was signed.
PAYE and National Insurance come into force for anyone working on UK soil. In France, the costs are even more. Employer social charges can add 40% or more on top of the gross salary. The UAE has no income tax, but visa sponsorship and end-of-service benefits cost money instead.
Short trips of two or three weeks won’t usually trigger local tax rules. Stays of several months probably will. The exact threshold depends on the country. An employment lawyer or international payroll provider can tell you where the line is. Morgan & Mallet works with legal advisors in every market where we have offices.
How do you handle payroll for household staff working in multiple countries?
Use one employer of record for all countries. Morgan & Mallet offers this as a payroll service. The agency becomes the legal employer, deals with contracts, tax, pension, and insurance in each country, and sends you one monthly invoice. The family doesn’t touch the legal side. If something goes wrong, it’s Morgan & Mallet’s problem.
The agency carries insurance for property damage, workplace injuries, and liability. In France, that coverage runs from the moment an employee leaves their home until they get back. In the US, it includes medical insurance and mandatory criminal record checks. In the UK, it covers pension contributions through NEST and damage insurance.
One employer of record means one invoice and one point of contact, no matter how many countries your staff works in. The alternative is setting up separate contracts in every country, each with its own tax, pension, and insurance rules.
Morgan Richez puts it directly: “I think we are the only agency that fits the exact locations where these properties are. Most payroll services are very local. They’re not international like us.”
Can I take my housekeeper abroad on a tourist visa?
No. Having your household staff work in another country on a tourist visa is illegal in most places, even for short stays. The most common mistake families make is treating this casually. Someone tells their nanny to pack a bag and come to Saint-Tropez without checking whether the visa covers work, whether the contract needs updating, or whether travel insurance is in place.
Another common problem: families in Monaco trying to use a Monaco contract for a housekeeper who actually works 200 miles away in the South of France. Morgan has seen this repeatedly. “You can’t play with the laws in France,” he says. Families try this to avoid higher French taxes, but it’s illegal.
Cash payments are a risk too. Some employers pay 80% on the books and 20% in cash. In every country where Morgan & Mallet operates, this is tax fraud. It also leaves the employee without protections if something goes wrong.
Eric Rios, recruiter at Morgan & Mallet: “Disputes are traced back to unclear pay terms more often than personality conflict. Written wage structures reduce tension before it starts.”
What employment rules apply to household staff in the UK, France, UAE, and Switzerland?
Each country has its own labor laws for domestic workers. If your staff works there, you need to follow them.
United Kingdom. Right to Work checks were expanded in late 2025. You need to confirm your employee has the legal right to work in the UK before they start. PAYE and National Insurance apply if they’re working on UK soil for any length of time.
France. French labor law is strict. Laurine Mallet is blunt about it: “In France, you can’t work above 40 hours a week. Even if I want to work more, I can’t.” As an employer, your obligations run from the moment the employee leaves their home to the moment they get back. A doctor’s visit is needed before the employee starts, and once a year after that.
UAE. Dubai has its own rules. Licensed recruitment is enforced under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, and visa sponsorship is needed for domestic workers. Morgan & Mallet uses a supplier for visa processing in the UAE and can organize medical tests, health insurance, and onboarding. In Saudi Arabia, electronic salary payments for domestic workers became mandatory from January 2026.
Switzerland. Household staff salaries here are the highest in Europe. Work permits (B, C, or L category) are required, and tax rules change by canton. Geneva, Zurich, and Gstaad are the main markets. A butler in Switzerland earns CHF 110,000 to CHF 130,000, according to our 2025/26 Annual Salary Report.
How do you find a nanny or housekeeper who can travel internationally?
Start with the passport. A candidate with an EU, UK, or US passport gives you the most flexibility. Then check their travel history. Someone who has spent five years working in different countries knows how international households run. Morgan & Mallet’s placement data shows that employers hiring traveling staff almost always want one of these passports because it makes traveling easier.
Morgan & Mallet’s database of vetted candidates tracks who is willing to travel, who has the right visa status, and who has worked with multi-property families before. Every candidate goes through a 90-minute structured interview, and availability or ability to travel is part of that.
Working with an international agency means one point of contact for everything. If you’re moving from London to Dubai, the same recruiter who knows your family handles the search in the new city. Morgan & Mallet handles visa processing, payroll, and contracts across all eight of its offices.
Take household staff abroad the right way
The legal side of traveling with staff doesn’t need to be complicated. But it does need to be done properly. Make sure your contract covers the right country, your employee’s visa allows them to work there, and your insurance and payroll are set up for cross-border work before you leave.
If you’re planning to travel with your nanny, butler, chef, or PA this year, call us on +1 (646)-965-2308 or get in touch at contact@morganmallet.agency.
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