HELP, thinking about becoming self employed nanny??? where to start!

[kate2289]

Basically as the title say's really. Starting a new job in the new year (possibly) and thought about going self employed. I'll be working about 38 hours a week.

How?......

And what are the pro's and con's......

So confused...

you cant be a self employed nanny. You can either be an employed nanny or a self-employed child-minder requiring registration etc.

My friend is an accountant and says that you can?! He would do my books etc.. but i just need to set up?

I dont think he is right. What woudl a self-employed nanny do that is different from an emplolyed nanny? Does he envisage you setting up a company?

You can be self-employed as a nanny if you work for more than one family; for example, a night-nanny who may be with one family for a few nights or weeks, then moves on to another family. But if you're just working for one family full-time you are an employee with the right to paid holidays, sick time, maternity leave etc.

i also used to be the nanny for their family aswell. I dont really know, he just said i'd benifit from being self employed money wise?

very rare for Inland revenue to accept a nanny as being self employed

It isn't a case of you saying, oh I'm going to be SE now; there are criteria that a SE person must fulfil beforehand

Your friend is yanking your chain I'm afraid

It can't be done, OP, and he's fooling himself if he thinks he's smarter than HMRC. But look at the benefits of being an employee I mentioned above, and ask yourself what monetory value you would attach to them.

I think it is possible to be a self-employed nanny, but I think you need to fulfil a very specific set of criteria. I have a friend who is a self-employed nanny, but she doesn't work for one specific family/group of families, she does cover/ad-hoc/last minute childcare. She advertises her service, families contact her, she then decides when she can work/if she wants to, which children she'll have, how much to charge etc. I think she had to show that she dictated the terms of employment (like a childminder) rather than the family dicating it.

he just said i'd benifit from being self employed money wise?

How? Is he thinking that you will have lots of expenses you could put through the books?

Talk to your local tax office and ask to be contacted by their Employment Status Officer. Outline to them what it is you plan to do - such as doing all temporary work, as hohohoshedittant explained.

Before doing that though, consider all the things you LOSE by not being an employee. Consider why YOU want to be self employed... forget what your accountant friend advises, consider what YOU want. Do you really want to run your own business?

If you want some reading material, then HMRC Employment Status Manual is a starting point. It's long and tricky to understand. Employment status is not simple, it isn't something you get to choose.

to be a SE nanny, you need to be choosing your working conditions ans who you work for

For instance when I was a SE (maternity) nanny, i worked nights for 1 or 2 clients and / or days for 1 or 2 clients. My contracts were all short term and I chose which hours I worked, and how long I would be available for.

If you are working long term for one family, you should be employed by them

I was a self-employed nanny for a while - I had three regular families and did between 0 and 3 days for each a week, depending on when they needed me and when I was available. Also did a bit of random babysitting.

It doesn't sound like you would be legitimately self-employed. Why would you want to be? You'd have no employment rights, no sick pay, no holidays, no maternity rights and you have to do your own tax return.

Hi,

I was SE for a while when I was working for three families on a casual basis as well as other families (ad hoc nannying when I was available, night-nannying and babysitting). Although this all worked out fine I can only advise you to be an employed nanny. I didn't have paid holiday, sick days etc.

HMRC have really tighten up on self employment and have recently issued criteria about being self employed you need to be:

a) able to detemine your own hours of work
b) able to subsitute someone else to cover your role
c) work for more than one client

Ideally they like you to satisfy at least 2 of the three criteria. As a nanny for a single family you can not satisfy any of these criteria.

Additionally if you are self employed you get no holiday pay, no sick pay and have very little protection from termination of your services.
In the nicest possible way if your friend is wrong (which recent letters for HMRC would say he is) you will be the one paying the fines.

Thanks for all your help :)