Ok - I've cracked. I am never going to be able to housetrain my DH so a cleaner/tidier it is. I expect we will need a person for about 6 hours per week (more when we want some spring cleaning/have had the builders in etc)
Really don't want to go through an agency - no good ones round here apart from very expensive one with liveried vans etc which seems a bit unnecessary. Posted ad at the job-centre this morning. Already had one applicant who looks ok on paper and by phone (not rushing into anything though).
First applicant would prefer to work for us on a self employed basis and I suspect this may be a common theme for cashflow reasons (not suggesting anything untoward - just that under self assessment you pay your tax later). I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what to do to best protect ourselves in the event of HMRC challenge to ensure that we can demonstrate that she is working on a self-employed basis.
In terms of our position are we likely to be better off (not financially but less exposed to HMRC interference) having her on a zero-hours contract rather than a self-employed basis? She would be earning less than £100 per week so I guess still no maternity pay entitlement/SSP (is that correct) but she would be entitled to some holiday pay which is fine although I am not sure how you deal with that on a zero hours contract.
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Cleaner - employment status
SarahBumBarer · 20/12/2011 14:49
Thanks both - sorry not been back on for a few days. Another I must have a very dirty house, I guess 
but we are looking for more than just cleaning (tidying, changing the bedding, running errands to the dry cleaners etc)
Reading I'm a chartered tax advisor but I don't deal with employment status so am as much in the dark as anyone else on that topic. However, I am conscious that my tax affairs need to be whiter than white and we have a few complicating factors to deal with so alas not beyond HMRC scrutiny by any means. Plus didn't recent reports show that HMRC are more aggressive at pursuing the average Joe's than the big businesses?
Anyway we have found a cleaner who is in the process of setting up her own business and is all set up to raise invoices etc so I am much more comfortable now about it being on a self-employed basis.
We had lots of responses to our job ad, we actually took it down after just 48 hours, kind of brought home how hard people are looking for any work they can get at the moment 
Wow - I thought you had someone to clean who knew someone else and shoved £25 quid (etc) at them when they left - Tadaaa.
Hmm maybe not so easy - Mind you I can't afford one 
It is in lieu of a Christmas present from DH Loving (probably birthdays and aniversaries too for forever more but that's fine with me). We have a bit of an odd set up working hours wise in order to get the balance that we like with regard to childcare but it means that I can't do much in the way of cleaning at weekends. DH hates cleaning and so he is taking on an extra few hours at work on an unsociable hours basis and that will all go on paying the cleaner. He says he would prefer to do his job for a few extra hours that he/we would otherwise spend doing housework and pay for someone else to clean. Not everyone's choice but logical, I suppose!
Sorry Sarah - I wasn't meaning to come across funny for having one (in fact I'd love one), I just thought it was really easy to do and not as complicated
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FWIW our housekeeper/nanny began as our cleaner through an agency. We loved her, she loved our DC so she quit and we have taken her on full time as housekeeper/nanny. She does everything for us and she is worth her weight in gold.
Yes agencies can be expensive but a good way to meet someone CRB checked to within an inch of their life
Oh it's fine Loving I didn't take it that way just was saying that it does not come without sacrifice for us (well mainlhy DH I guess - I get a night a week to just have the clean house to myself and watch what I want on TV while he works extra to pay for it )
It was not the expense of the agency fuzzy so much as there aren't any good ones around here and I did not think the one I used last time (which has gone bust now anyway) was any good or worth their cut of the money. DH is CRB checked (so we know how much and how little those checks are worth) and we're happy to pay for CRB checks for whoever we employ anyway. Would be great though if she turns out to be a "treasure" in the way that yours did especially with DC2 on the way
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