What are your thoughts on other people employing your nanny (or if you are a nanny, getting other work)?

[Foxinsocks]

We employ our nanny for 4 days a week with an option to use the other day. She is paid well above the average salary. Both our children are at school but we pay her for a full day as we need her to cover holidays and sickness. Both my husband and I have very full time jobs with travel etc. She's a live out nanny. So although she is paid for a full day, theoretically, on a school day, she wouldn't need to turn up till after school (dh drops them off with the option of asking her to do it if he needs to leave earlier).

She's pregnant at the moment and had seemed very tired but I put it down to the pregnancy. Then I bumped into another mother in the class who told me she had 'employed' our nanny to cover a few mornings a week while she is doing teacher training. The nanny has to be at their house by 7am, gets her child ready for school, then drops him off at school. It just so happens that luckily dh hasn't needed her in the morning for a while otherwise I'm not sure what she would do on these days (I guess bring this child to our house!).

Dh is about to go away for a month and she asked me (before i knew this) exactly what hours she needed to cover (all the hours would be the hours we had contracted her for) which I thought was unusual given that she is paid to work these hours anyway but I now see why she was asking fgs.

Another mother also texted me for her numbers a few weeks ago and it appears as though she is just filling her time working for other people who I bet aren't paying her properly either (I pay her with PAYE/NI etc. but I can guarantee the others are doing cash in hand otherwise I would know about it!).

What are your thoughts....

And if Op pays the SMP and the nanny isn't entitled to it, then quite likely Op will not be able to reclaim the SMP payments from HMRC.

i assumed she would get the other smp - where same amount each week but not 6 weeks at 90% of her salary as was already preg when started

Sorry, you're quite right. I read the page about maternity leave;

*Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Leave
As an employee you have the right to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave making one year in total. The combined 52 weeks is known as Statutory Maternity Leave.

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave you must be an employee. If you are an employee and you give your employer the correct notice, you can take Statutory Maternity Leave no matter:

how long you have been with your employer

how many hours you work

how much you are paid*

So, from that I think Fox has to let her nanny take maternity leave and hold the job open for her, but does not have to pay her SMP

And reading back Fox hasn't made any mention of paying smp, only that nanny is taking maternity leave.

No, she didn't, it was MrA who mentioned the SMP which is why I brought it up.

Also on the DirectGov website says that employers are obliged to protect pregnant employees from harm from numerous factors including long working hours.

Also, if her pregnancy suffers and she needs extra antenatal care the OP is the one who has to give paid time off work, even if the illness has been caused by the other work. And I don't think she can even require her to make those appointments during times when she is not actually needed at work so if it is a 4pm appointment then the nanny is entitled to take the time off as paid and the OP has to make alternative arrangements for her DC to be collected.

I mentioned SMP. I half wondered whether, if it were above board, nanny thought she'd be getting more by taking on another job. She wouldn't but she might not know that.

Hi, no she doesn't qualify for SMP as she hasnt worked for me long enough. Tbh I don't think she really understood the implications of this till I gave her her SMP1 form (this qualifies her for maternity allowance). I am an expert on pregnant nannies. This is my 3rd . I don't know how as my children are contraceptive enough for me .

Yes as mrachovy knows, I'm an accountant which is why I thought of the tax!

I start interviewing replacements next week (argh!) - I'm nowhere near Essex sadly (sorry on phone, can't scroll up and get the name of the lady who kindly offered her services!). I find it easier to do it later in the day - less chance of being let down at the last minute!

Sigh. Childcare is an enormous hassle sometimes.

Ps thanks for all your thoughts. Useful to muse over this. Everyone I work with has a SAHP so they don't really get it!

(meant everyone with dcs)

I think its the fact she hasnt been honest thats the worst bit.And those that say that as you dont need her at this time its up to her and they dont see a problem with it-actually since you are paying her full pay I dont think its totally up to her
I am a nanny and did have a job with school agers once(though there the children always came back for lunch for 2hrs before going back to school for the last 1h30mins of the day so its not quite the same as here where they are gone the whole school day) I was paid fulltime but mb was happy for me to work elsewhere as long as I was immediately available should she need me to be or because the child was sick. I got a part time job for 2/3 mornings a wk but I still made sure all nursery duties etc were done in the remaining time I had free while kids were at school