National Insurance

[laalala]

What do I have to do as a nanny about national insurance. Anything? Or do I not earn enough so don't have to bother about it?

This indicates the circumstances under which you are exempted from the minimum wage and the minimum wage levels for different ages. This says that a deduction can be made of £33.74 for accommodation per week, but no other benefit (e.g. your Oyster Card or food can count towards it). There is also a helpline which may be able to determine whether you should be paid the minimum wage.

I think there are in relation to the minimum wage for au pairs

No, not specifically. However there is an exemption from the requirements for the National Minimum Wage for workers in certain conditions where "the worker resides in the family home of the employer for whom he works, [and] the worker is not a member of that family, but is treated as such, in particular as regards to the provision of accommodation and meals and the sharing of tasks and leisure activities". Most au pairs and many live-in nannies fit this description, although interpretation of "sharing of leisure activities" is somewhat troublesome.

but sole charge is not an au pair anyway so that is not relevant.

There is no legal definition of an au pair in the UK. The only regulations where the term is used is in relation to the Accession Worker Scheme for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals where "au pair" is one of the limited number of occupations that such a national can work in. However there is no definition of what constitutes an "au pair" and as "domestic employee in a private household" is another such occupation with exactly the same treatment, and "au pairs" are clearly a subset of this category, there is little relevance to any restriction.

I wonder how they work out how much the benefit of free board and lodging is worth in working out if someone is paid more than the minimum wage?

This is called the National Minimum Wage Accomodation Offset and it is set arbitrarily at £4.82 a day or £33.74 a week. No other offset is permitted, including any for food or any other aspect of board, however for workers that fall within the exemption mentioned above this is irrelevant.

I suggest you look for a better job.
You are being exploited.
Gum tree, childcare uk nanny job etc.
Sure you will find something quickly where your employer doesn't want to take the piss out of you. Good luck!

So Mr A you are saying I'm right aren't you? The au pairs not in sole charge living with the family don't need to be paid the minimum wage.

So if sole charge it looks like roughly depending on her age and if in UK etc needs to be paid about £6 an hour x 50 hours = £300 a week less that £33 = 267 but may be the 50 hours includes a lunch break and is not all time worked? If it were then that leaves £267 and she is paid 150 so may be could claim about £100 for every week worked so far in back pay perhaps when she leaves?

So if done a year the leavingp resent or legal claim might be £5200 from the family. Keep all records of hours, contracts, sums paid right through the time with the family.

Also 48 hour maximum working week unless you've opted out of it and seems to exceed that too.

There is no prohibition regarding au pairs of any nationality and sole charge. The only existing legislation relates to working hours and that's on A2 nationals. You could call someone an au pair, have them work 50 hours (and pay them accordingly) within the spirit of cultural exchange etc if, for example, that sole charge covered 2 overnight shifts where the au pair is technically working and in sole charge but it doesn't impact on their ability to take language lessons etc. But this isn't an au pair role.

I do understand someone consciously deciding to take low paid role in order to gain experience they perceive as valuable but that needs to be weighed up carefully.

Xenia I don't think you use the phrase "I'm right" to mean the same thing as I do

It doesn't mattter whether they are called au pairs or anything else, and it doesn't matter whether they are in sole charge of children or not, if they are staff employed for domestic duties living with the family then the NMW does not apply to them.

"Also 48 hour maximum working week unless you've opted out of it and seems to exceed that too."

No, again domestic staff (this time whether live-in or live-out) are exempt from that requirement.