Nannies/mums pls advise! How much to pay in first nannying job in London?

[LadyCora]

Met a lovely 21 yr old from Spain, qualified nurse who wants to nanny for a year before studying to become a midwife. Really liked her, and she seemed both warm and sensible. But hv no idea what rate net/gross appropriate (30 hrs a week; London; 1yo and 3yo) Also wd be able to use childcare vouchers? Any nannies/mums out there who can help?

What would hours etc be?

You can't use childcare vouchers unless she is OFSTED registered

Hi Lady Cora
One of the refugees is it? Isobel will be pleased.

Her name's not JANE though? (Next thing we know you'll be asking for advice on whether it's okay to hire a nanny with a 12 yr old son who's applying for grammar school entry.)

Downton

Live-in or Live-out? That could make a difference to salary.

nannynick - live out.

LadyHarriet no it's for Lady Sybil she seems to be hanging around the garage rather a lot of the time....

MilkNoSugar - 3 days a week....and how much does it cost to register a nanny for OFSTED?

National Minimum Wage will apply, so minimum would be £6.08 per hour Gross (£182 per week. Employers NI: around £6, so cost to employer £189 per week).

Problem though, could someone live on that in your part of London? Does she already have a place in London near you, has she said what sort of salary she would need to be paid?

Ofsted registration wouldn't be worthwhile in my view as it will take your proposed nanny quite some time to do the training courses needed and to use childcare vouchers you would need to opt into the scheme for 12 months. It might take your nanny 3 to 6 months to register (she will need police checks from Spain if she's not been in the UK for 5 years). It will cost £103 ish (not sure of current price) to register, plus the cost of whichever training courses are needed.

hi nannynick. Yes I think that's difficult to live on - particularly for part time work. She had said she was looking for around ?9-10 an hour which is £8-9/h I think. Does that sound about right for someone who has nursing experience but not formal nannying experience? I've never employed anyone before so have no idea.

Very hard to know. As an experienced qualified nanny about 20ish miles from London I get around £10. A nanny in London with my level of experience could well be on £12+ but it all depends on various factors, not least what parents can afford and feel it's worth paying.

Nursing isn't childcare. Has she actually looked after any children on her own all day? It's not as easy as people sometimes think, children can be on the go all the time and have a very short attention span. Your 1 year old may well take an occasional nap, your 3 year old probably won't.

So far you have said that she's sensible... well that's a start. Does she have any other qualities that appeal to you?

I guess I liked her as she was warm and seemed genuine (I know that sounds woolly but did make a differnece). She talked about babysitting she had done for children and her niece with real affection and asked questions showing interest about my DCs.
Again I know that doesn't mean someone would be a great nanny but at least I felt it was a start.
(this may be influenced by the fact I had spoken to someone before v impressive on paper, had done a degree in child education, but did not seem particularly engaged in who the children were in the same way)

Gut instincts is important, so you saying that she was warm and seemed genuine is possibly your gut instinct. Sounds like she has cared for children at some point, so that's a help. On her nursing course that may have included some contact with children, though that's medical care not childcare though may mean she knows how to relate to children - getting children to allow someone to inject them can be tricky.

Have your children met her? That can be quite revealing... children sometimes just seem to show that they like someone - and that is a great start to things as to be able to leave your children with someone, you want them to like their carer.

no they haven't - I suppose i wanted to think through if do-able before doing that...but yes would definitely...

I'd reckon £9/hour net which is approx £11/hour gross or £1436/month gross.