To hire a nanny and offer her this set up?

[plplz]

A quick run down, five-month old DD and have had her nursery for a month or so, and she's not been doing as well as we would like, so looking at a nanny.

The dilemma is that it's only a few months before I think she would do a lot better in the nursery, and the costs of a nanny are eye-watering.

We interviewed a great nanny who isn’t working at the moment, and while I would love to have her in I don't want to mess her about.

Would it be unreasonable to ask her to work for us while she finds a suitable gig, and pay her cash (would probably meet her halfway between her gross and net rate as as sweetener).

Any warnings, advice or thoughts?

I’d run a mile from you tbh.

Surely you just advertise for a short term nanny?

Look for a childminder?

Short term Nanny?

Why employ someone illegally cash on hand..

Why not look for a childminder for a more homely environment and then move to nursery when ready?

You can’t offer to pay her cash if by that you mean you don’t want to employ her properly, it’s insulting. You could offer her a temporary contract though and be honest about how long you expect to need her.

So you want to pay her cash in hand?
No way!

To be fair she did allude to being ok with being paid in cash.

You don't want to mess her about, but you do want to propose tax evasion to her?

Right.

You can only ask. I wouldn't expect her to say yes though. Especially not if you're offering her less than she wants.

No you have to employe your nanny and pay her all tax and NI. I’ve been offered cash before and walked out of the Interview.

Yabu, pay properly and legally.

You do realise you can be imprisoned for tax evasion?

How would you like a 5 month old to do at nursery? What are the issues? Surely talk to nursery and get them resolved. Definitely don't pay someone cash in hand!

As the others have said don’t offer her the cash.

However I think you could offer her a temporary contract, which would make the “eye watering” but short term.

I would be very wary about employing somebody to look after my precious child without a formal or legal contact which is what you would be doing with a cash in hand set up. It simply isn’t worth the risk to your child. Advertise it as a 6 month (for example) contract properly.

why would you want any nanny willing to agree to working under illegal conditions anyway? Surely personal integrity is totally fundamental when considering who you would want looking after your kids?

What happens if she does something to hurt your child?

Why isn’t she doing well at nursery OP? Did you have expectations not met for her or is it something else?

I missed the age. What difference will a few months make?!

Not sure I could trust someone to look after my child in my home if they were willing to participate in tax avoidance.

Just push ahead with nursery. Nursery is always difficult to start. It will be rough for the first few months at 9 months or 12 months too. I would just carry on. I think it would be more difficult settling in with a nanny and then taking that person away and trying to settle into a new setting later.

@flaviaritt why would she hurt her child? Nannies don’t hurt children they prefer to care for them.

I didn’t say she would hurt the child. I am asking what the OP would do if harm came to the child as a result of the nanny’s actions and she had no employment contract, hadn’t been paying tax etc.

I can't believe people would think about doing cash in hand for childcare. Basically you are showing someone that you want to trust 100% that you are dishonest...

Also, you do realize that she can tell HMRC about it and as employer you will be the one liable for penalties?

@flaviaritt Ahh I see, well Causing harm to a child Is gross miss conduct which is instant dismissal so contract or not she could just dismiss her instantly.

No decent nanny will agree to no contract and cash in hand. I won’t even start a job until I’ve signed the contract.