Nanny doesn't want paid by vouchers - why??

thanks alibubbles, one of the parents gave them a right earbashing on the phone & they contacted me to apologise and offer to pay my late payment fees.

When they got my bill (for 2 families with different due dates, totalled £70 at £5 per child per day) they only authorised £40, I had to email them again and they made another payment but its still £5 short.

as we are talking busybees -

i've been using them to pay cm for 15mths now. 4 times either voucher has not arrived or they won't cash it on time. its rather annoying as cms other parents also use bb and never seem to have a problem - we're all nhs employees, just 2 sep trusts. cm nevre seems to mind though as its still guaranteed money rather than a cheque that could bounce!

i might make more of an effort to contact them though because its always been a "clerical error" reported as the issue with late payment. You never know i might get a late payment fee covered for my cm too.

on another note my first cm wouldn't accept vouchers, preferred weekly cash. now it wasn't due to avoiding tax but i think that she didn't trust them and couldn't understand that this was the only way that i could get tax relief on childcare.

NannyL. not as a rule, but as their computer system crashed, along side a lot of other companies the BACS system went into chaos, so they are paying up if payments were made the 26th -30th March and delayed. eg, I didn't get paid until the 4th April, should have been due 26th when parent instructed transfer.

To answer Ruth's specific question, there is nothing to my knowledge which would prevent a self employed childcarer from receiving payment by vouchers - as Childminders are self-employed and can be paid via vouchers.

However, Nannies can't be self employed. If someone says they are self employed and they are providing childcare in your home, then ask for evidence of employment status - otherwise assume they will be your employee.
See this letter from HMRC to a Nanny Agency, regarding the employment status of nannies

My boss in the uk (horrible man) had a fairly good idea about getting paid. He would give clients a 10% discount if they paid within two weeks of the invoice date. He almost always got paid on time and the reduction in income was more than worth the lack of hassle. And it makes people feel better to think they are getting a discount for being early than to think they are getting penalized for being late.

will busybees pay you if they pay late?

busybees are paying me their 1st payment this month!

Ive herd that they are often late! perhaps ill be billing them £5 per day....

but then im ALWAYS paid late, record so far is 27 days late, and in th past 6 months ive been paid 96 days late

(by parents, NOT busybees!)

ayla99.invoice BusyBees with your late payment charge. I have, it was a system crash the week of the 26th March. BB will cover bank charge3s, I said I don't have any because I wasn't overdrawn, but I bill parents £5 a day late payment, so they will pay that.

Having been paid 9 days late by Busy Bees last month I now understand why some people are so reluctant to take vouchers. Its very hard to budget when you can't rely on being paid on the agreed date.

Maybe this is standard, they assume I am trying to cheat or something? I keep saying I will never have another nanny, I had to cut my working hours to do the school/nursery runs myself, and that both kids will be in school soon anyway.

When I phone with the latest letter, they are very polite, know about my previous calls, and assure me not to worry about it. Then another letter comes, saying I owe them again, for more months that I didn't have a nanny.

It's quite worrying.

Oh no. That sounds dreadful. Why are they still hassling you?

I had to persuade her to accept the vouchers but now she is happy knowing she will be paid early, if anything.

do you know I am still getting hassled by inland revenue for my "nanny" who left after 4 months, in Sept 2005?

I paid every penny right away back then (tax freaks me out) but 2 letters and 3 phone calls later, they don't seem to be able to stop sending me demanding letters, covering the last few months.

Now I am using a childminder, because it is easier to pay her with vouchers, and no tax hassle for me-she really IS self employed, and qualified, first aided and CRB'd.

I thought you would know, Eleusis!

Uh oh....
"Nanny" and "self employed" don't generally belong in the same sentence.

Is she temporary? Are you paying an agency directly for the service?

If you are paying her directly and she is coming to you on a regular basis for say more than a month or so, I think you have to be her employer.

And registration costs money.

I don't think a nanny can be self-employed. YOU have to sort out and pay her tax and NI.

The vouchers are nothing to do with that, but to get them she has to be registered which involves (I think) being qualified as a nanny, and having first aid and a special CRB check.

RuthHawkins...Slightly concerned re your Nanny being self employed...I may be wrong but as far as I'm aware Nannies can't be self employed unless they're temps???

We are just about to start using a nanny and she's self employed. Does anyone know if this prevents her from receiving payment by vouchers ?

We pay the cost of our nanny getting registered - since the vouchers are to save us money it seems unfair for her to be out of pocket as a result. Is that part of the reason?

DO all you can to reassure her that she will get prompt payment. I get part of my salary paid by vouchers, and it arrives in my bank account typically 14 days before my monthly salary is paid in - so voucher payments can arrive early! Only use electronic vouchers, not paper based ones, saves a lot of hassle and ensures fast payment.

could you offer to pay her cash if the vouchers are late and then deduct the appropriate amount from the next pay packet? - that assumes that the vouchers don;t cover the full amount