Could I hire SIL as a nanny in my own house?

[MrsGruffalo]

That's about it really..... has anyone else done this?

How do you organise a contract/tax etc?

Thank you :)

tech yes,you can hire/employ anyone as a nanny in your own home

but i would be very wary of using F&F

a good contract is always essential

Planned to do a contract, tax, NI contributions etc by the book, and I will be very specific before we begin about routine, foods, groups etc. She doesn't have children but has experience with young ones

TBH it is just to bridge the gap between baby 1 and baby 2 (2012 fingers crossed) so nothing more than 1 year...

Intro to PAYE - you can get a payroll company to help you if you so wish (they cost around £130 a year), such as www.payefornannies.co.uk

Example Contract will need some modification but should be a starting point.

Search this board for more info on contracts and PAYE plus all things nanny related. Also ask specific questions about things you need help with - for example... employee holiday entitlement (to answer that one we need to know how many days/hours your nanny would be working each week - if working hours each week do not vary).

Thanks nannynick, I will definitely use a payroll company

It would be 9-5 for 4 days a week... so not sure what holiday entitlement that would give

I'd also want to know what kind of mileage rates people generally allow for a small nanny's car (Clio)

Thanks so much for the quick responses

I think mileage is about 45p a mile - or is it 40p?

It's a standard amount that takes into account wear and tear etc. Make sure SIL has the correct insurance.

You can pay up to 40p a mile for mileage, if you pay more the employee will have declare it to HMRC as anything over 40p a mile is taxable.

you can but wont be able to use childcare vouchers to pay her. (even if she is ofstead approved / registered etc!)

as of 6 April mileage rate has gone up to 45p per mile (for first 10,000 miles a year)

nannyl is it the case you can't claim vouchers for family members then?

Im pretty sure you cant.

However i might be wrong.... But im sure i have read (in some official document type thing about getting registered) that you cant.

Hmmm..interesting...I wonder why - perhaps it's because then one partner would claim vouchers for the at-home-with-the-kids-partner, or do some dodgy deal with a family member?

on www.childcare-vouchers.net/parents/faq/can-i-use-vouchers-to-pay-a-family-member-to-look-after-my-child-in-mine-or-their-homes.aspx www.childcare-vouchers.net/parents/faq/can-i-use-vouchers-to-pay-a-family-member-to-look-after-my-child-in-mine-or-their-homes.aspx it states that inland rev does not let them be used to pay family..... only exception is if a family member runs a nursery and the child attends on same Ts & Cs as other children at the nursery.

not sure what happened to link, but its still there to see!

Thanks!

I still wonder what the thinking is though.

My company doesn't offer childcare vouchers, so that won't make a difference for us, but thank you for mentioning it nannyl

Standardised hours, 4 days holiday gives (28/5 * 4) 22.4 days paid holiday inclusive of bank hols. You can round up, either to 22.5 or 23 days but can't round down.

Like blondes I'd be wary if using a family member though. How woukd you word your disciplinary procedure/deal with issues?

Also would she be able to get insurance to cover her (anyone know?) as she's caring for family? Even if you say you wouldn't sue, if something happened amd she had insurance it would be a potential financial safety net for a child who needed extended care.

it says on here that ofsted registered CMs can care for family members

however there is a lot involved to being an ofsted registered CM... lots of legal hoops and beuracracy that needs to be in place and procedures etc that have to be followed.

They will have to folloew EYFS, although i guess it doesnt matter if they are officialy rated as poor or unsatisfcatory or whatever its called does it? As you wont care if they havent got policies for this and for that, and for other stuff!

Well it would matter as they'd be on 3 months notice to improve or they could be deregistered, but as OPs company doesn't offer vouchers it doesn't matter.

Childcare Act 2006 defines a relative as:
?relative?, in relation to a child, means a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister, whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership.

The legislation regarding childcare vouchers may have a different definition but I expect it's similar, if it's even defined at all as it may rely on the Childcare Act 2006 instead.

So the sister in law of MrsGruffalo is what in relation to the children? Not one of the things listed above, are they?

Not that it matters as MrsGruffalo isn't going to be using childcare vouchers. However it may be useful to note for if an insurance company asks if they are a relative or not. Insurance company can be told that they are not a relative under Childcare Act 2006 definition, though are part of wider family.

MrsGruffalo - I feel you need to consider how you will treat your employee and how they will expect to be treated. They are not a close relative but if you and then have a disagreement would close family members get involved?

Er, surely MrsG's SIL is her child's aunt?

Or possibly technically not if the SIL is the partner but not actual wife of MrsG's sibling?

SIL would be the child's aunt (unless they're not married and it's brother's girlfriend for example)

They may be the child's aunt - I don't know, it gets confusing to me. Anyone know this family tree stuff?

nannynick, my SIL is my husband's half sister, so would be my DC's Aunt...

Re: treatment of employee, I would treat her as I would treat any other Nanny
i.e. we will agree holiday dates/half rates etc as the contract states with 3-4 weeks notice......will not tolerate lateness etc

In terms of more personal disagreements....I'm not sure. I'm trying to come up with possibilities....do you mean discipline?
My DS is 5 mths so I'm not expecting that to be an issue yet. And as he gets older I will let her know what we tolerate, and how we would want her to deal with tricky situations.

I will be clear about what he should eat (she will be preparing food in our kitchen so shouldn't be an issue) and about where she can take him (baby groups fine, swimming is a no)r

What kind of issues should I be considering?

Thanks for all the feedback :)

You need to think about how you would deal with things if she didn't follow your instuctions ie. too much tv, feeding him foods you had asked to be restricted etc.

How would you deal with things if she turned up late quite regularly, took a sickie etc

Much harder to deal with when your employee is family imo.

Maybe I could hide the TV remote (!)

I will be working from home, so will be around if she has questions; will be able to hear the TV if it's on; will maybe join them for lunch time..

I can't imagine her feeding my DS 'naughty' foods as I will be providing all the food necessary... why would she need to find anything else? (This childcare arrangement will only be for about a year, between baby 1 and baby 2, so DS won't be at the stage of asking for anything toooo unhealthy I hope!)

But I appreciate the comment, and will definitely talk to her about it first

If she turned up late regularly I'd put her on a warning, and I'd ask DH to have a word too. If it happened a lot I'd have to explain nicely that I needed someone more reliable... I'd have to be polite but firm and I think this would be acceptable within the family (i.e. it shouldn't create bad feeling)