Household staff for families in Monaco, selected in Spain
Monte Carlo and Fontvieille
Live-in housekeepers, nannies, domestic couples and house managers for apartments in the Carré d'Or and Larvotto, the Fontvieille harbour and the villas of the Rock. Monaco is a small market that runs on its own rules; we explain the Principality's work permit, the employer registration with the social funds and the data rules before you start.
- Placement agency licensed by the SNE, no. 1300000318
- 4.8 · 79 Google reviews
- One-off fee · 6-month guarantee
Why families in Monaco hire household staff through a Spanish agency
Monaco packs a great many staffed households into two square kilometres, alongside a saturated local agency market and a permanent shortage of experienced live-in candidates: the apartments are large, the staff quarters small and the standards high. The families who come to us share a profile: international residents with a house in Spain, or friends of families who hire through us in Marbella and Madrid, who want the Spanish standard of live-in service in Monte Carlo.
In the Principality a house manager or a domestic couple is asked for by name rather than described: apartments that entertain, a second residence in Cap d'Ail or Roquebrune across the border, a yacht in the harbour that needs the same discretion as the house. Our pool of house managers, butlers and couples with villa experience on the Costa del Sol fits that demand, and Spanish is widely spoken among Monaco's staff.
Monaco has its own rules, which we set out plainly: every employee, French and EU nationals included, needs a Monaco work permit; the family registers with the Caisses Sociales as employer of domestic staff; and because Monaco is not covered by an EU data adequacy decision, we send candidate profiles with specific safeguards. None of it is complicated once you know it, and the Service de l'Emploi processes domestic hires without a prior job posting.
Monte Carlo and Fontvieille
Two square kilometres, two very different kinds of home, and the villas just across the French border that Monaco families also staff.
Monte Carlo
The Carré d'Or around the Casino, Larvotto and the avenues towards the Beach Club, apartments of two or three hundred square metres with sea terraces and a staff studio. Monte Carlo families ask for a live-in housekeeper who receives guests and, in the larger homes, a house manager who coordinates staff, the yacht and the second residence.
Fontvieille
The reclaimed harbour district on the western side, with duplex apartments over the marina and quieter family buildings near the Princess Grace rose garden. Requests here are family-shaped: a housekeeper who cooks and a nanny for children at the international school, often for families who moved from London or Geneva.
The Rock and the border villas
Monaco-Ville, the Rock, has a few historic houses, and many Monaco families keep a villa in Cap d'Ail, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin or Beausoleil, minutes away in France. A couple living at the villa and a housekeeper in the Monaco apartment, sometimes with a chauffeur between the two, is a common arrangement, with separate contracts in each country.
The profiles Monaco families ask us for
Housekeepers first, then nannies and house managers; couples for the villas across the border.
Live-in housekeeper
Runs a Carré d'Or or Larvotto apartment, laundry, wardrobe and light cooking, receives guests; the role Monaco families ask us for most often.
Live-in nanny
Spanish-, English- or French-speaking, first aid, international-school routine; a regular request in Fontvieille.
House manager / butler
For homes that entertain and families with a yacht or a second residence: staff, suppliers, protocol and the calendar; a role Monaco families ask for by name.
Domestic couple
For the villas in Cap d'Ail, Roquebrune and Beausoleil that Monaco families keep across the border: housekeeper and houseman-driver living on the property.
Permits, employer registration and rules for household staff in Monaco
Monaco is not in the EU and applies its own employment and immigration law. The two facts that matter: every foreign employee needs a Monaco work permit, and the family registers with the Monaco social funds as employer of domestic staff.
A work permit for everyone, EU nationals included
Under Law no. 629 of 17 July 1957, no foreigner may hold private employment in the Principality without a work permit. It applies to Spanish and other EU nationals as much as to anyone else. For domestic staff the procedure is simplified: the family may hire without advertising the vacancy first, and files the authorisation-to-hire and work-permit request with the Service de l'Emploi, online or on paper, signed by both parties, with a five-euro registration fee.
The family registers as employer of domestic staff
Before hiring, the private employer affiliates with the Caisses Sociales de Monaco as employer of gens de maison, on presentation of a Monaco residence permit or identity card, and receives an employer number used for the hire and every later declaration: payroll, contributions, contract changes. Contributions are paid to the Monaco funds, not to the French or Spanish systems.
Residence and non-EU candidates
A live-in employee residing in Monaco needs a Monaco residence card (carte de séjour): EU nationals apply to the Sûreté Publique directly, while non-EU nationals first need a long-stay visa issued through the French consulate, so a Filipino candidate resident in Spain depends on that visa. Employees who live in France and cross the border daily are common, and they need the Monaco work permit only.
Data protection
Monaco has no EU data adequacy decision, so sending a candidate's profile there is an international transfer under the GDPR. We rely on appropriate safeguards or on the candidate's explicit consent for that specific transfer (art. 49), and we tell her which country her profile is going to before we send it.
Who employs, and under which law
The employer is the family, in the country where the home is. We are a placement agency: we select and present, we are neither the employer nor a temp agency, so the Posting of Workers Directive (written for companies) does not apply. The contract is governed by the law of the place where the work is habitually done, even if the parties choose another (Rome I Regulation, art. 8).
Checked on 12 September 2026 against Law no. 629 of 17 July 1957 on legimonaco.mc, the “How to hire domestic staff” procedure on monservicepublic.gouv.mc (Service de l'Emploi and Caisses Sociales de Monaco) and EUR-Lex. Monaco does not appear on the European Commission adequacy list.
What you need to know before starting, not legal advice: each case is confirmed by the family with its adviser or the country's authorities. We keep these notes reviewed and tell you what we have checked and where.
Languages, currency and cost of living
French; English and Italian everywhere; Spanish common among household staff
Families ask for English or French for the household and often Spanish with the children.
Euro (EUR)
No exchange risk on the salary or on our fee.
The most expensive housing in Europe
Live-in accommodation, even a staff studio, is worth a great deal here and is stated in the contract; many staff live in Beausoleil or Cap d'Ail.
Caisses Sociales de Monaco, family affiliated as employer of domestic staff
Monaco's own funds, with their own contribution rates and health cover.
Minimum aligned with the French SMIC plus a Monaco uplift; exact figure to be validated
Monaco's minimum wage follows the French SMIC with an uplift set by the Principality; we have not verified the current figure on an official page, so we confirm it before you make an offer. The market range the families we serve pay is well above that floor, and it is agreed case by case: we give it to you with the quote.
Figure pending confirmation from an official sourceMonaco's minimum wage and hiring procedures are published by the Direction du Travail and the Service de l'Emploi (gouv.mc); confirm the current figure at the time of hiring.
A Monaco placement, step by step
Monaco's procedure is short once the family is affiliated; our job is to bring the right candidate and the right documents to the Service de l'Emploi.
Brief, residence and role
We confirm whether the employee will live in Monaco (residence card needed) or across the border, the candidate's nationality, and the role: housekeeper, nanny, house manager or a couple for the villa in France.
Selection in Spain
Interviews in Madrid or by video, references called, and a check of French or English and of the discretion a Monaco household expects; many of our candidates have served on the Costa del Sol for the same families.
Video interviews and trial
From your client portal; Monaco families frequently meet the finalist in Marbella or Madrid, or bring her to the apartment for two days.
Affiliation, permit and move
The family affiliates with the Caisses Sociales, files the authorisation to hire and work permit with the Service de l'Emploi with the candidate's documents we provide, arranges the residence card where needed, and we agree the start date around the notice period in Spain.
One-off fee and a 6-month guarantee, outside Spain too
You pay nothing during the search. Only once you take the person on and you're happy do you pay a single fee: the equivalent of one month of the agreed salary, plus VAT where applicable depending on where the job is. No subscriptions or lock-in.
One-off fee: one month's salary (+ VAT where applicable)
A single payment, only once you take the person on. We confirm the exact amount upfront, in euros or in your country's currency.
6-month guarantee
Replacement at no cost if the person isn't the right fit, and a 50% refund of the fee if you're not satisfied during the first month.
Relocation and trial
The family covers the relocation trip; before that you can interview by video and, if you travel to Spain or the candidate to your city, run a two-day trial.
Hiring household staff in Monaco from Spain
Yes. Under Law no. 629 of 1957 every foreigner, EU nationals included, needs a Monaco work permit for private employment. For domestic staff the family requests it from the Service de l'Emploi without a prior job posting, with a five-euro registration fee.
Affiliate with the Caisses Sociales de Monaco as employer of domestic staff, with a Monaco residence permit or identity card, and obtain the employer number. Then file the authorisation to hire and work permit request signed by both parties.
Only with a Monaco work permit and, if she lives in the Principality, a residence card, which for non-EU nationals requires a long-stay visa issued through the French consulate first. Her Spanish permit does not transfer. We say so before starting.
Yes, it is common: staff living in Beausoleil, Cap d'Ail or Roquebrune cross daily and need the Monaco work permit only. A live-in employee residing in the apartment needs a Monaco residence card.
Yes. House managers are asked for by name in Monaco, for apartments that entertain and families with a yacht or a villa across the border; couples usually go to the villa in Cap d'Ail or Roquebrune, under a French contract.
House managersFirst profiles in days; the start date depends on the family's affiliation, the Service de l'Emploi's permit and, for a resident employee, the residence card. For an EU candidate, count four to eight weeks after your decision.
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Looking for live-in staff for a home in Monaco?
Tell us the building, the role and the date. We answer with the permit steps, what it pays and the first profiles.