How do I become a nanny

[PAJA05]

I'm currently going through the very slow process of registering as a childminder, but with Ofsted and the CRB, things are not moving much.

In the meantime, my friend is desperate for me to mind her baby so she can go back to work. I want to do this legally, and someone mentioned I can do it as a nanny in my friend's home - how do I go about this i.e. tax etc and how do I formalise it?

You need no special registration to work as a nanny.

You will need to pay tax and national insurance. Normally your employer pays this, so if you get paid £350 a week then on top of this your friend will pay your tax and NI - roughly half of your wages on top. There are several companies who will sort this out, one of the most well known being nannytax.

Other issues that an employer would normally be looking for - CRB check (obviously not relevant in your position), upto date first aid course.

Also you will need a contract stating:

• hours
• duties
• dealing with petty cash
• sickness pay
• holidays (I used to give 20 days a week, nanny got a week off at christmas, I choose two weeks and she choose the last week)
• bank holidays

If you need a draft contract - post on here there are several mums who employ nannies who should be able to help you.

I think that it is very important for you to have a contract even though your are friends as you do not want any misunderstandings which might impact on your friendship.

thanks for the speedy reply. It seems quite a lot to go through for what will hopefully only be a short time before my registration comes through. Doing it without pay seems the most straightforward way, but still having a contract as you suggested - do you reckon?

Specimen Contract - for a nanny

For your friend, HMRC Employers Pack

With regard to your Ofsted Registration as a Childminder, have you contacted them recently to chase progress. It can help to give a push every now and then, especially if you are just waiting for say one check to come through.

If you decide to do it without pay, then remember that you still must care for the child in the child's own home, as if you care for the child at your home, you will be in breach of legislation as you are not yet a Registered Childminder. This is due to 'reward' not being just a money value. If you did care for the child at your home, you could do so for less than 2 hours per day, 2 hours or more would be classified as childminding.

Nannynick - thanks for the info. I have contacted Ofsted who were very helpful and said the holdup was my CRB check. I've got standard disclosure already, but need enhanced for childminding. The CRB said they were missing 2 month's of address for me from Jan to March 01, which I had previously provided to Ofsted and it seems they haven't passed on. Will probably take at least 4 weeks from now......