childminding in someone elses home

I childminded along side another CM in her house for 3 years! It worked well! We were in Wales and it's definitely do-able!

I'm a childminder who works with my partner. He is registered in his own right. We thought it was absolutely essential this was the case so that if for any reason I couldn't work (illness, doctor's appointment, etc) he can take over aslong as there aren't too many children. An assistant isn't allowed to be alone with the children for more than 2 hours which just wouldn't have worked for us.
It works fantastically because some days I can take some younger mindees with me to a baby group/ messy play session whilst he takes the older children to the zoo/ play park etc.
However, like your friend OP, my partner has had a very good job offer and has decided to leave childminding. His shifts will be all over the place so no chance of him helping out at all really X

Humas - do you know you're posting on an eight year old thread? Might be better starting your own!

working together sounds great - but obviously need to cater for the increased bills that u pay in your home for childminding -how did you deal with that may i ask?

Hey Nick to clarify we spit all the bills too and split profit 50/50!

Opps, that link at 22:38 didn't work... try again: Employment Issues board.

Get in touch through my website on my profile & we can chat if you have further questions

navyeyelash - does that mean that you lose out though, as you have the costs of providing the home itself. Or is that covered by splitting all the bills as well as all the income?

Try posting a message specifically about working whilst on maternity leave on the Issues board. Never know, may get one of the more legal knowledgeable people responding.

I work with anoter childminder in my home (so she minds in a home that isn't hers). We split and pay for everything 50/50. It worked really well (so far!).

I agree with Katymac that being a minder in your own right will be the better option... more chance then of having more children you can jointly care for, plus you can take your quota of them on outings on your own if necessary, or stay at the home whilst the other childminder takes older children to school.

An assistant cannot work long-term by them selves - I would use that to mean more than a couple of hours or so - so not for your F's maternity leave

My friend is expecting in the middle of next year so the idea would be to take the maximum number of children one person is allowed to take care of until after my friend has recovered and ready to return to work.

How many children does your friend have under age 8? How many will you have under 8 at that point... 1 (DD2) or 2 (DD1 & DD2)?

I'm concerned about how many babies you may be caring for at that point, how many children under 8 and if it's financially viable at that point given how many childcare places there may actually be used by paying mindees.
When your friend is on their maternity leave... where would childcare be taking place? It would still need to be at their home... which depending on how their pregnancy and birth go, may or may not be something they would want to happen.
Or are you thinking that the childcare setting would close for several weeks pre-post birth of your friends child?

2 minders normally = 2 under 1 spaces

There are rules about earning while on ML - but as long as you aren't earning I am sure it will be OK - do check with an employment expert before committing yourself

A minder carries her own insurance & can do things (wrt medication/solecharge/first aid etc) that an assistant can't - so you would be more use as a minder (IMO)

You could be a registered childminder in your own right, or you could be an assistant. Becoming an assistant is quicker but does not always result in more children being able to be cared for... and when the registered childminder goes on maternity leave... are you then able to still provide childcare (hmm, not sure, KatyMac?).

Are you currently being paid by your employer whilst on Maternity Leave? Are you getting better terms than SMP? If so, I think you need to abide by any terms of that agreement. Your agreement may allow you to do voluntary work... it may not.

Given the young age of your DD2, is that going to cause ratio issues? If you are an assistant and your DD2 will be one of the minded children, then they would be in the Under 1's ratio. That childcare place I view as being quite valuable, as childminders are restricted in how many under 1's they can care for... so to make it a bit better if you registered in your own right, then your friend could still use that place (assuming they don't also have an under 1 themselves) for a mindee. I hope I'm making sense... KatyMac may be able to explain it better.

orite its just i have an assistant and she is self employed i did check this was ok but some ppl think it wouldnt be but thought maybe with them being called a co minder rather than assistant that they would be able to be self employed without any questions

I depend upon how you set it all up

My co-minders are employees, but in other arrangements each minder has the money from their children or it's a percentage split

There are so many ways of doing it

if your a co minder does that mean that profits need to be split equally or can you get a set wage so to speak

If you are an employee your Tax & NI is paid for you - as a co-minder you are Self employed so you pay your own tax & NI

I prefer to be in charge so my fellow minders are my employees - you might become a partnership or 2 separate minders (tricky wrt rent/income etc)

Currently NVQ's aren't required but realistically I think childminders having level 3 is what the government is after long-term

You can do your level 3 as a childminder - is there funding available in your area?

It is tricky to manage it successfully but just shout if you need advise