I want to set up as a nanny temporarily- please advise

[manitz]

I have a friend who wants me to mind her child in september. I'm almost through the cypop course and have my first aid certificate. Once these are done I'll apply for ofsted to certify me but it's possible it wont all be complete in time for me to look after her baby. Someone suggested I could work at her house under a contract as a nanny whilst waiting for formal registration.

i just want to check a couple of things. I have tried to google but there is so much information that I can't work out what's a reputable source for this sort of question. I think i understand that a nanny must work in the employers home or their workplace would also have to be inspected by ofsted is that true? Can the nanny be self employed? does anyone have a very simple contract or somewhere which might be able to answer these questions/have sample contracts. It's just going to be for a short space of time (i hope) till I'm set up as a registered childminder.

Thanks

Yes, nannies work at the home of their employer.
Generally a nanny is an employee for tax purposes. If you are only working for one family, at times decided by that family, then that is employment.
As an employee, national minimum wage applies.
Your employer has a duty to do payroll if your pay is over a certain amount. Details will be in paye section of hmrcs website.
It could take months for Ofsted to register you as a childminder, so be prepared for a bit of a wait.

ofsted does not inspect employers home, and you do not need to be ofsted registered to be a nanny

it is not of any benefit to you to be ofsted registered as a nanny. The parent pays the fee (100 or so) to register you so that they can use vouchers, as you intend to switch to the compulsory register to childmind, that'd be another fee. She would also need to pay you minimum wage or above.

how long would this arrangement last? Ideally she needs to draw up a contract and register as an employer, be prepared to pay your tax and NI. Once you are fully registered you end the contract and begin operating in a normal self employed way.

Thanks. That's very depressing that it's going to take so long.

I was hoping that ofsted would take 3 months and I have finished all my assignments so am just waiting for my final marking before applying to Ofsted, hope by end of next week. So I think that I'd need to work for around a month as a nanny. My house is much better to care for the kids (2 of them, mine and hers) for the longer term but for a short period her house will work fine. Also it seems quite complex to set her up as an employer whereas if i can work as self employed it just seems much simpler overall. Would it work that I could work as self employed so that i can be open to work for others on the other two days?

Thanks for your help.

thanks, just re read will look at paye section of hmrc.

I'm in a similar position and phoned HMRC. They said that the person requiring childcare should fill in this employment status indicator thing they have on their website (I'll try to link to it later when I'm on a laptop) and see if it comes out as employed or self employed. It depends on things like if you'll need to provide any equipment yourself (eg car or pushchair) as potentially these could make you run at a loss. Also as it's a temporary contract and if you are available to work for other families you are also more likely to come out as self employed. The lady I spoke to said that it's the people using your services who need to be able to provide evidence that you are correctly employed so if they do the status indicator thing and keep the outcome then this should be sufficient.

You need to make sure that you register your business with them within 3 months of starting or you could face a fine. She told me just to register as a Childminder once my registration is complete so that I don't then have to change it all.

Also I would start your Ofsted application asap. Once you've filled in the forms and submitted them they will send youa medical form and the DBS check forms and it's not until you've sent these back in and you've paid the fee that they consider the application complete. I got mine all in about 5 weeks ago and I phoned Ofsted yesterday to find out the status of my application and mine was complete except for the DBS checks so once they're back I'll be due a visit.

Lilbup thanks that's really useful to talk to someone in the same position but slightly ahead of me.

So can we register as a childminder before ofsted have given us a registration number? what is DBS? is it similar to CRB?

I keep thinking Ive missed something really big...
I thought I could only start the ofsted application once I had the CYPOP certificate - I've just handed in my last assignment tonight but I know that there are likely to be a couple of amends, so hoping finally finished by next friday.
Thanks again.

DBS is the replacement for CRB.

You can keep track of your start up expenses prior to registering your business with HMRC. Not sure if HMRC requires an Ofsted registration number before they will accept you as being self employed as a childminder.

Ask your local early years team about the current procedure for Ofsted registration, as it does change from time to time. Certainly as far as I know, you have to now complete the training before applying for registration. On the application form (CR1) you have to sign a declaration that you comply with:
CR4.1 Childminders who require compulsory registration must complete a course approved by an English local authority before registration.

May be worth talking to the HMRC Status Customer Service Team with regard to your employment status if you provide childcare for a period of time at the home of the children.

The trouble I foresee is that the period of time is unknown, it may be a couple of months but it could be a lot more, depending on how long Ofsted take to register you.

You need to be aware of your employment rights in the situation of being an employee and thus what you would lose in rights by being self employed. For example, you would lose statutory holiday entitlement.

I'm fairly certain you can start the application process without having completed the cypop5 course but you need to have completed it before they will actually register you. You need to have completed the first aid training before you can apply.

HMRC told me to register with them once I had registered with Ofsted. So long as that happens within 3 months of you starting your business then there's no problem.

Oh and just re-read your post. I applied to Ofsted when I was at the same point as you with the cypop5. My certificate arrived last week :-).

And the link nannynick has given you has a link to the online status indicator I referred to.

Thanks very much. We've had a manic weekend but I'm going to follow this all up on monday evening as I am getting quite stressed about it. i think you are right, a talk to HMRC might be better than trying to read about it as then I know I'm doing the right thing.

I think I'll also give ofsted a call and see if I can at least get on the waiting list or get an idea of the timescale so I have a rough idea how long I'll have to work as a nanny.