All the boring stuff (tax, vouchers) for nanny's employers as of post-April 2005

3 days a week - I used to have this list just as a guide, but I figured it was better to put it in the contract - can't say she does all this - if I had been clever, I would have used it more as a checklist to organise her week around - bit immaterial now as she has been there 2.5 years and will probably be leaving soon.....(I'm going on maternity leave and can't afford her!)..... You could make it a lot more personal to your situation/house as welll....for instance, this morning my nanny called out the RAC for our flat battery and now has gone to Kwik fit to get a new battery for our car, (and she has a 10% discount card which she will use for us) all above the call of duty (still this is the first day when both kids are at school full time, so she is going to have to get used to more house jobs now......)

Sorry this is long, but this is the non-legal responsibility bit that I put in my nanny contract......

Could be used as a basis for appraisals etc, but I never really take it that far.......

EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

The daily activity of the children including:
Arrange and supervise a stimulating and child centred day with age appropriate activities
Provide a safe environment and highlight the potential dangers in and around the home.
Arrange and supervise children activities such as swimming, birthday parties etc
Getting children washed and dressed in the morning
Give children their meals
Administer medication
Drawing
Reading
Organising children for school (bags, lunch etc)
Take the children to and from school
Drop off and pick up children from school
Checking and overseeing homework or reading, if any.
Daily fresh air weather permitting

Preparing and cooking meals for the children including:
Planning menus
Light shopping for fresh produces and supplies for the children?s food
Preparing & cooking meals and stocking up the freezer
Cleaning the kitchen after the children?s meals

Cleaning and maintaining the children?s living areas including:
Washing, ironing and sewing children?s clothes
Keep the children?s bedroom & bathroom clean and tidy
Keep the children?s play area and toys clean and tidy
Hoovering the children?s bedroom and play area regularly
Loading and unloading the dishwasher

Oh yes, maximum 1 hour of telly per day is in my contract now too. Current nanny plops her in front of the telly far more than I had forseen. She even argued with me one day about whether or not DD could watch a certain show which I single out as the one show she can not watch. It's MAx and Ruby. And I do appreciate that no one else regards this show as the evil influence that I think it is. But, the point is nanny was arguing with me about what DD could or could not watch. And now when the show comes on DD says "Ruby!"... oh no, she's not watching that while I'm at work. GRRRR

Ok, rant over... sorry

Hiya, we use nannypaye. They are ok. They cost £150/year. And, nanny tax is £250. I love their website. And I'm under the impression that they have more staff (hence faster replies on employment questions). But apart from that, I can't really see that they offer anything that justifies another £100 per year. So, it's nannypaye for us.

I never use either of their contracts. I think I found mine on the internet (from another parent) and then I just tweek it as I go along and learn lessons. For example, my next nanny will have a contract that has a nanny diary as part of the job description -- it just never occurred to me that I would employ somewho thought this was an unresonable request.

If you need help with a contract, feel free to e-mail me. Glad to help.

we didn't use their contract - I used the structure of the one supplied by the agency and then supplemented it with things that seemed sensible based on my and others experience. I also have a separate house rules document for stuff that's not exactly contractual but that I want in writing at the beginning to avoid issues later on - stuff like paying for personal phone calls etc

also, thinking about it, it's a standing order not a direct debit that we've set up

not much help I'm afraid but we use Nannytax. I struggled for years with getting the payments made on time (it was a fiddly horrible job working out the correct tax to pay based on an agreed net salary so I always put it off). After the third grovelling letter I had to send in to avoid a fine for late submission of end of year forms I decided I had had enough and told my husband he would have to do it in future - so he signed up for Nannytax.

The burden that has been lifted as a result is enormous. We follow their instructions and it all seems to work like clockwork. I think (but can't be certain as it's no longer my task (hooray!)) that we tell them what we want to pay our nanny as take home pay and with what frequency and they do the rest - payslips, tax vouchers etc. We have set up a direct debit to pay the nanny and then write cheques to the Inland Revenue when told to.

I don't know what it costs but given that the fine for late submission is £100 (and I risked this every year) it's been well worth it for us.