Live in Nanny

[curiousscot]

I am a live in nanny in the south of England. The agreement was 5 definite hours per day with a possible 6th hour per day, 5 days per week.
The work includes dressing the children for school in the morning and taking them to school. Fetching them in the afternoon, arranging lunch, homework, activities and then dinner and bath, until 7pm.
It includes house duties of washing, drying, folding and packing away of the household laundry.
It has become clear, although it was never discussed that the work also includes emptying refuse bins, garden refuse bins on refuse days, dishes, running errands for the lady of the house when required.
The laundry alone takes far longer than the possible additional 6th hour per day.
When kids are sick, they stay home under my care for the full day.
Some additional hours over weekends have been asked for from time to time as well.
My query is, is £110 per week, a reasonable rate of pay?
Whether I've looked after the children all day when sick or weekend hours, the weekly rate of pay remains totally unchanged.

To try and answer all the questions, I am from abroad and arrived in the UK earlier this year on an Ancestral Visa.
This job was advertised on a Facebook group and I applied for it.
I did agree to the £100pw as I was only too happy to have a job to come to. Food, a cell phone sim card and a very small bedroom are included. I brought my own toiletries but they were offered to be included.
I am a lady in my 50's with no previous professional nanny or mothers help experience, excluding being a mother of 2 now adult children.
I have started doing home caring on weekends to try and make ends meet and really do enjoy it. I have done the required training for caring ie safeguarding, food hygiene, first aid etc.
I got paid cash in hand but now via EFT as I have opened a bank account.
I do feel that the wage is too low and I am grateful for all the feedback, especially as I am new to the UK, your feedback is invaluable to me.

So you have an au pair type role - although duties sound a bit too heavy - dressing kids taking to from school cooking tea would all be normal. Au pairs are outside of minimum wage legislation as they live as 'part of the family'. If you are not happy I would plan an escape - find a lodging room and just quit. You could find a proper live out nanny role probably paid around £150 per day in London. Less in other parts of UK or do caring type work you seem to enjoy. Not sure if your visa give a you recourse to public funds but you might get some housing benefit etc depending on your proper wage / rent levels.

No tax, pension or any other deductibles taken off.

Oh OP this is really outrageous. They are taking advantage of you.
Please do find another role if you can.

No recourse to public funds. I am quite happy to not have access to public funds as I do like to be independant. I do not like being taken advantage of and this is what it feels like to me.
I was ignorant that £100 was enough and I can only blame myself for not doing more homework on this offer.
I have been offered a position with the NHS in Administration, subject to the necessary paperwork and blood tests, which have all been done, just awaiting the blood test results.
Once the blood results are in and the job is firm, I think I will be making a beeline to the exit door on this job, but will definitely continue with the weekend caring.
Thank you everyone for your valuable input.
Please cross fingers and hold thumbs that the NHS job comes through quickly.

You are being paid an au pair’s wage for a nanny’s work. This also happened to me many years ago. I’d definitely look for a new job if I were you.
You should be earning a minimum of £10 per hour!

Of course it's not a reasonable rate of pay!
That would be a reasonable rate for a European teenager doing a few hours of childcare/ light housework and having English lessons whilst living as part of the family.
You are doing much more than this and seem to be treated as the general skivvy.
Do you have any friends/ relatives you could stay with while you look for care work/ another properly paid live in nanny role? You could apply via an agency if you have references from previous jobs.

Wow that is an incredibly low wage for the hours and duties you are doing. For 30 hours a week even at the lowest end should be around £8.50 which comes to £255 for the week. This is assuming you have little/no experience in childcare and no first aid/dbs etc. If you have these or some experience it should be more.

As you are live in you could probably knock it down to £200 if you are well provided for in terms of food and phone etc.

Are you qualified OP? I agree you are being paid a mother's au pair salary. Find another job asap.

We have an au pair - ie a 19 year old with no childcare qualifications who lives with us. She does 8-8.45 and 3.30-5.30 each day plus one evening's babysitting a week. We pay her £90 a week but we pay her extra for any extra time, even if it's just an extra 20 mins. If she looks after a sick child we pay her for the whole time. All extra time is paid at £8/hr if one child, £10/hr if two. She does the children's laundry but no other house work except for chipping in with general washing up, table laying etc. She eats with us and I cook. Any extra groceries she needs (E.g. for her lunches) I buy as part of the family shop. This is how an au pair is meant to work!

Even on your lower hours thats £4.40 per hour you are being massively exploited.

No you are being paid as an au pair but expected to do full nanny housekeeper duties. I’ve always read that there isn’t much of a discount for live in so (assuming you’re experienced and have full responsibility for all you have set down) I think £9-10 net/ph is reasonable for this. In London maybe more.

Good luck OP, makes me so cross when people are taken advantage of like this. Shame on them.

Do you still have your passport in your possession?
The family you work for should be ashamed.

£100 plus room and board for about 25 hours a week is typical for an au pair.

If you are doing more than 25 hours then you need to speak to the family.

I think any additional hours eg when children are sick should be paid at minimum wage.

The idea with au pair 'pocket money' is that it's not a wage to live on - it's spending money as all your basic living costs are paid by the family.

You're an au pair basically. I pay mine 100 a week for 27 hours. Similar role except no 'errands' and only laundry for the children. Up to 8 nights babysitting a month. Pay for all food, car, petrol and gym membership. Pretty standard.

But if they didn't advertise it as an au pair role you have been mugged off for sure. Where did you see the job advert? Was it advertised as a nanny or mothers help/ au pair?

A nanny is qualified and experienced. Which you aren't. And is an employee. An au pair is a cultural exchange and is part of the family. No experience. There is a clear difference.

Sounds like have a great new job lined up so you can leave. Good luck!

OP - Glad to hear about the NHS job you have lined up!

Fingers crossed it works out but if it doesn't, please don't sell yourself short in future. You are legally entitled to at least the minimum wage, which I assume is what you'll be getting for your care work. The family you are working for are being extremely exploitative as has already been said.

You're worth more as much as a UK-national in terms of pay - don't accept anything less.

My nanny was on £10/hr rate. We paid for 10 hrs a day even when the kids started school. No house keeping duty. We did not ask her to run errands on regular basis. She might do occasionally pick something as a favour but this was very rare and we made sure it remained.

Leave that that family as soon as possible.

having worked in europe where there are very strict rules I note as an ex nanny the cheek that some famlies have.
if a nanny works for you, they should be paid on contract, full time, the fact you only need them for school runs and some extra is regardless, theyc an not work for any other family as each family want the same thing. also nannies generally can only be used by people who can afford it, so I think you want a childminder from the council !

I pay more than that for 2 days a week of nursery. You're being exploited. Leave asap.

Aside from everything others have said OP don't underestimate the cost of room, bills, travel and food which will have to be paid for from your new wage.

this is a nannying agency, but clearly sets out minimum wage, offset for living in - you should be getting at least £135 for 25 hours a week, £170 for 30.
www.payefornannies.co.uk/residential-nannies-live-nannies/

www.acas.org.uk/national-minimum-wage-entitlement/if-an-employer-does-not-pay-minimum-wage

This is advice on modern day slavery
www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/domestic-work-and-slavery/

I hope that the NHS job comes though and you can get out - either way look at reporting them for breach of minimum wage legislation, and take advice from the charity on reporting on the anti-slavery issue.

Good luck with the job offer - and if successful with reporting the pay below minimum wage, you may get some back pay to set you up in your new home.

Thirty years ago I was on 90 Irish pounds per week, live in, full time.

That's about £4 an hour, which is half of the legal minimum wage!!