Can I be self-employed as a nanny?

No, unfortunately not, so no benefit to them in you getting OFSTED registered unfortunately. If they are self employed they must know the tax office rules re: self employment so maybe you could ask them how their nanny managed to become self-employed, what sort of contract they had with her etc to enable this. If she's genuinely self employed then the contract would reflect this - e.g. clauses about being self employed, chosing how she does the job etc. If she is really self employed then maybe you could take on the same arrangement with the same contract if you and the tax office are happy? You could try checking it out with HMRC (tax office) before you take the job if they will offer advice but you may find the parents start getting twitchy and no job offer is made once HMRC is mentioned!

If she is self employed tell her that you want a conract stating that fact and then pay her by bank transfer or cheque.

She can then tell you that she may be unavailable to work on certain days as you are not then employing her.

My clients ask me if i am available and i say yes or no. For instance, one of my families asked me to work Sunday through to Thursday. I can't do that as someone else has booked me for Thursday so I am doing Sunday - Wednesday this week for them. Next week however, I can do Sun - Thursday but again the following week i can't.

I do try to accommodate my clients as best as I can but I always make it clear that it is on a first come, first served basis so whoever books me first, gets the days and times that they want!

What if she is paying tax as she says she is herself?

What about the other 2 famillies - should we all pay a proportion of her tax and NI?

She sounds to me like an unregistered childminder. I wouldn't touch this with a 10 ft barge bole for 6 hours of childcare each week. And, for what it's worth, £8 is too much for childminding one child.

If she is a nanny, then you are her boss and she does with your kids as you dictate. For example, if you say I want you to make ham and cheese sandwicjes for lunch and write down here in this nanny diary how much he eats, then it is her job to do so. If you say, I want you to take DS to this footie tots class, it begins at 3:00 on WEdnesdays, then it is her job to do so. If she is a childminder, then she will tell you what activities have been chosen.

if it is a perm job xfabbia then you should pay her tax and ni, you have decided on the hours, as that is what you need (after school care) so tech you are her employer

"Is she pulling a fast one getting cash in hand? Do I care if everything else seems fine?"

and yes you will care, if the tax office find out and FINE YOU £3000!!

hmm I'm a bit confused now. I suppose you would say it is part time as she asked me what hours I needed (3 hours a day twice a week) which she was happy to do as she wanted some extra hours and asked me to pay her as self employed i.e doesn't want me to get involved with tax and NI. It will be ad hoc for extra hours in the holidays and temp in the sense that the arangement may well come to an end after a year or so if we change to a school closer to home, she moves out of the area or either of us are on mat leave (all possibilities) - all discussed and agreed.

Does it sound ok under these circumstances? Seems to work for us and her.

some nannies are self empolyed .... i am one of them.

Self employed doesn't mean cash in hand....i tell my clients that they are more than welcome to pay me by cheque or bank transfer.

I do only take on part time, temp or ad hoc work thouhg and I set the days and hours that i work.

XFabba....if you are telling her the hours and days that you need her to work, she is your employee and you should be paying her tax and NI (unless it is a temp position)

Conversely, I have found a nanny to pick my son up from school and look after for 3 hours 2 days a week who wants me to pay her as self employed. i.e I will just give her the hourly rate plus mileage one way for school pick up. She says she sorts it out through her husbands accountant as he is a self employed electrician. She nannies for 2 other famillies on other days. As my requirement is quite small and only 2 days a week this seems ok to me. Is she pulling a fast one getting cash in hand? Do I care if everything else seems fine?

Maybe you could negotiate with them - explain your concerns re: self-employment not allowed for nannies, you're looking for a long term career so don't want to do anything that's not above board etc, and you could apply for OFSTED registration (assuming you meet the requirements such as current first aid cert and suitable childcare qualification - do you?). If you are OFSTED registered they can save a bit of money (i.e. they get a reduction off their salary tax and NI) by paying part of your salary in childcare vouchers if their employer offers them to them. They are obviously paying cash in hand (code word for 'self employed' in nannyspeak!). However, if they want a long term, English nanny, they must realise they can't expect to get away with paying someone like that cash in hand for long. Of course if they are not fussy and a short term overseas visitor with very poor English skills will do then they will probably have their pick of people happy to take cash in hand.

and thats the reason parents think that they can do this, as some people who generally arent trained or qualified or experienced do this and call theirself a nanny

tbh it does piss me off that anyone can call theirselves a nanny, and the quicker there is a proper register then the better

IME plenty f people doign nannying ask to be treated as self-employed/cash in hand and don't pay tax at all.

wonder even

i must pre read my posts

i winder if the current nanny actually does pay her own tax

or just pockets the cash?

If previous nanny has been there for a long long time, there used to be a sort of loophole where a nanny could set up her own company and provide services through that company, which produced the effect of self-employment. That possibility got closed off by law though about 5 (or more) years ago - I don't know whether someone who set up the arrangement before it got closed off would be able to have continued it ... suppose it's a possibility.

Anyway, it can't apply now.

If they're ready to offer a gross wage, then all you need do is see if they are willing to bear NI liability too - in which case you'll be employed & it's all legal - though you will have to work out who actually does the tax calculations. You (or they) will have to set money aside from your gross wage, of course, to pay the tax.

Being self-employed or employed isn't a decision that either you or your employer can make. What defines it is the nature of your relationship with the people you are working for.

For a nanny, unless you are working lots of temporary jobs or something similar, the nature of your relationship with the people you are working for is one of employment. It just is, simple as that. You will be employed, whether they like it or not, the decision for them is either they meet their obligations as employers or they decide to break the law and not do so.

You don't want to have to fight them for sick pay, holiday, maternity pay, protection against unfair dismissal, redundancy pay - I could go on.

have you asked them outright if they will pay your tax and ni - just beacsue the current nanny does it now,doesnt mean they wont chnage

they honestly might not know it is illegal and maybe were happy to let current nanny be se as they know no different

Yes, wage wise they should be offering you Gross rather than Net anyway, especially seeing how taxation seems to be changing quite a bit at present.
Remember that on top of the Gross wage, they have to pay Employers NI, plus they need to do the payroll paperwork (though could use a payroll company to do that, for a fee).

How can they offer a Net wage anyway, if they are saying they want you to be self-employed... they wouldn't know how much to pay!

Have you spoken with the current nanny? Why are they leaving the job? I'm wondering if Pay is a possible reason for them leaving.

As this is a nanny share, presumably both sets of parents are not wanting to operate PAYE.
If they want to tell you what to do, when to turn up, that sort of thing, then they need to be your Employer.
Tell them that you are not able to be self-employed for their particular job and ask if they will operate PAYE. If they don't... walk away. While it may be the ideal job, if you are not working legally then you will not feel happy... you won't know who has control, you won't know what happens in the event of you becoming pregnant, etc.

or how about approaching them and saying that as your employer they are responsible for paying your nanny tax and ni - and if they are willing to do so then you'd happily take the job.