daytime sitters

[lyns49]

Hi all,

Just wanted a bit of feedback from the parents out there. Im thinking of setting up an agency where families can hire a nanny during the daytime on a very flexible basis, minimum 1 hour bookings. to give themselves time to go shopping, to the gym, important appointments e.g. doctors, or just generally to give themselves a break. I was thinking of charging £9.50 an hour, i know this sounds a lot but please bear in mind this is the only expense no worryibg about nat insurance or tax etc for the nanny.

Wat do you think??

PLease let me know Thanks

I would have a longer time actually, i dont think an hour is a long time at all or is that what you are thinking that they will book for longer.

Where are you? Would you have a booking fee?

it would be for any amount of time really just minimun 1 hour to make it worth while for travelling etc.
probably wouldnt have a booking fee

I asked bacause i do babysitting in the evenings and the company who i book through makes the booking for a minimum 4 hours so it is worth the time and effort. I know that this is the evening but i was thinking about travel time ect to make it worthwhile for the nanny.

I'm not sure how well this would work. I would only want someone to look after my children during the day who they knew reasonably well, even if it was for only a few hours.

Evening babysitting is different as they are asleep so the main issue is that the person is a suitable person e.g. police checked, proper references etc. However if they are awake then I think it would be confusing for them if they kept having different people looking after them. Even if it was just someone to look after them during their nap I would feel a bit concerned as it would be upsetting for them if they woke up and met a stranger.

Have you thought of a way of dealing with the continuity of care issue?

I agree it would be difficult for the children to chop and change.

When i arrive for a sitting session they are not in bed and i educate them till bed. One family is happy because they know that x and x and x will know something completely different at the end of the session and that is why they keep asking for me back and so do the other families for this reason.

I think there is a market for it Lyns49

Obviously, as a parent if you are lucky enough to have family/friends locally who can look after the children for when you really need an hour or so to do something without the kids-in-tow, that's great but some people I know just don't have that options and would probably like the idea of someone they could pay by the hour.

Just as with JellyJelly, if after the first booking parents/kids like Lyns49 she's likely to get more bookings and then continuity of care won't be as much of an issue....

Good luck, if you decide to go with it!

jellyjelly, what do you do to educate them before bedtime?

The last booking i had with my last family (one of my regulars) i sat down with the 9 yr old and we talked about all the different planets, what the world looked liked billions of years ago, how it changed, how we came from apes, things about animals, climate changes. Stuff that the parents hadnt told the child and the parents walked through to talk to the others and said 'oh look he is being told all about the world and history, how very fasicinating (sp), he always learns something when she comes' they were really impressed.

With the younger one (middle child) i worked on the counting and grammer and a bit of spanish and french.

With the very youngest we played with alphabet cards and drew lots of people, working on what parts of the body are what.

I love the babysitting in the evening as i dont just see it as babysitting and plonk them down in front of the tv, like the others that they have had but a view on how i can make them enjoyable for them and as an extension of minding.

Jelly Jelly - I agree that it could work well if families could ask for you back. However the main agency that operates baby sitting in my area (Greater London) says that they can't guarantee the same person every time. So that's why I asked the question.

Lyn49 - In principle its a good idea as I am in the same position of needing occasional childcare. If I could opt for the same person each time I'd be much more likely to go for it.

I don't think £9.50 an hour is too much as the going rate for nannies in London is £7-£9 per hour before tax and NI. In fact I think its rather cheap - are you sure you'd be able to cover all your costs at this rate? Maybe you're outside London. As well as tax etc you need to think about things like 3rd party liability insurance, the cost of your own time etc.

If you are going to make it work I do think you need to be 100% clear about what checks you make on the nannies you hire. After all the nannies are going to be on their own in the house with the kids and a lot can go wrong, even in an hour. I think people are more willing to use a something like a creche on a casual basis because usually there is more than one person around. In addition it would depend on the age of the children - there is a greater risk with little babies.

I don't want to sound too much like a wet blanket but I have thought through this issue quite a lot and have come to the conclusion that its actually quite a difficult thing to do.

thanks for your feedback. well to start with i would be the only nanny working and only if it became really popular would i employ other nannies, so wouldnt have to think about the continuity just yet, although if available i agree it would be very beneficial for everyone if it was the same nanny time and time again. Money wise i was thinking £9.50 an hour and the nannies would be self employed then can get tax relief on milage, petrol etc. im on the south coast.

The company i work for doesnt guarantee that the parents will get me but i get first refusal if i want to work. The company also doesnt promote the learning side but i think they are paying a bit of cash so the children may as well learn something and not be sitting watching the tv.

What company is it candide?

But nannies can't be self-employed. So that will cause a problem.

You could set up an agency, run the agency and thus you be self-employed, and then pay nursery nurses/nannies as employees of the agency.

I'd suggest that you look at Employment Legislation regarding running an Employment Agency / Employment Business and also consult with the Status Officer at your local Tax Office with regard to if they will permit you to be self-employed in the manner you describe.

i thought it would be possible. at present i am working with elderly people on the same basis, the employee (me) is self employed i get all my work through a company and invoice the clients through the company its no different to what i was thinking of except with children. Any way to start with it would only be myself until it got too much for me to manage.