childminder to nanny.....?

[kimmy79]

hi, im new and never posted before so i hope im doing it right!
ok, so im a registered childminder but have soon come to realise that its just not compatible with my family life at the moment :( I have been contacted this weekend by a family seeking chidcare at home for their 2 children for 2 and a half days a week. Now this job sounds ideal for me but im unsure if i can do it with regards to what role would i be working under...nanny/babysitter/etc and how do payments work and i can do this and pay my own ni/tax etc??? completley clueless on the cans and cants, do's and donts so any advice is welcomed as the family are phoning me tomorrow to discuss but have never hired anyone before. They are offering a set weekly wage which is good but again i dont know how this all works being as its in someone elses home. Please can someone help me before tomoorw??!
Thank you!

You would be a nanny and employed by them

Discuss a gross wage and tax and ni will be paid from that by them

Agree, this is a nanny situation. Look through posts on here for info about contracts, sick pay, maternity pay, taxation, that sort of thing.

First time them having a nanny, probably best they use a payroll service so they get the taxation right and get access to employment law advice. They can find it all out themselves, hmrc, acas, citizens advice all have websites with info on them but it may be easier for them to have someone to call for help. Several payroll companies get mentioned on here frequently: www.payefornannies.co.uk www.nannypaye.co.uk www.nannytax.co.uk plus others.

Agree a gross salary. That way changes to your taxcode (which may happen if you end up doing multiple jobs, some childminding) won't affect the total it costs them. It is just like any other job, the employer deducts employee income tax and NI and pays it to hmrc on the employees behalf. The employer pays on top a tax called employers NI.

Get them to consider other costs of having a nanny, such as paying for mileage if you will use your car for transporting their children. Cost of activities.

Do you have children of your own, would they be coming to work with you?

Are you in England? If so, I think Ofsted will allow you to be a nanny (home childcarer in Ofsted speak) at the same time as keeping your childminder registration. If you are not in England then check with the childcare regulator in your country, as you may need to be on a different part of the register.
Does the family need you to be registered? Nannies do not have to be registered, so if they don't need you to be registered (due to childcare vouchers, tax credits) then you do not need to get involved with changing which part of childcare register you are on.

Nanny insurance is useful to have (vital if they require that you are registered), so you will need to contact your childminding insurance provider to discuss that. MortonMichel have a policy for nannies, PACEY does a nanny insurance, so if your childminding insurance is with either of those they should be able to offer you another policy to cover nannying.

Discuss what happens during holidays, as an employee you get paid holiday... 5.6 weeks is the minimum, probably wise to do in hours as you are working part of a day. So total hours per week x 5.6 = minimum paid holiday allowance. Employers can dictate when all holiday is taken though that does not make for a good working relationship, often there is a compromise where nanny choses around half and employer chooses half, though some families will let nanny choose it all. Bank holidays - you may or may not work those, if not working them they would come out of your holiday allowance. More of an issue if you work Mondays, as bank holidays will take up quite a bit of your holiday allowance.

Think back to any job you had prior to childminding, it's just the same as that really. You have a boss who can tell you what to do and in exchange they pay you and deduct your taxes from your pay leaving you with the rest. They can terminate employment by giving notice, they may have a probation period initially where you or them can terminate the job quickly.

wow thanks everyone for yor advice, its really helpful :) i do have children of my own but wouldnt want to take my youngest with me so i would find care for him. The person wanting care is going to uni for 2 years and doesnt want to send her kids to childcare which is why shes looking for care in their own home so im unsure how much help they would actually get in paying for a nanny? I cant really see this job offer working out as it may be too much for them to consider the tax, ni, holidays etc but getting the info has really helped me so thank you so much ;)

If they are going to uni, how would they be paying the nanny? Student finance may be able to contribute something depending on circumstances but it may not be enough to pay a nanny and it may not be made in regular payments - I think some childminders have posted on here in the past about trouble getting payments from colleges.

Look into things, consider what you need to earn.

hi cindy34, i think the husband is on a good salary thus enabling her to go back to uni for the 2 yrs. Not had the expected phonecall but have been looking into signing up with an agency.....:)