Employing a Nanny. Some advice needed: pay / hours / holiday etc

[WutheringFrights]

Our two DC are currently at nursery but due to a change in circumstances we are looking at other childcare options.
I work three days a week.
We have a nearly four year old who will be going to school in September and a 20 month old.
So the job would be full time care (for three days) of the 20 month old plus taking the four year old to school & pick up etc

I wanted to know if the below hours / pay / conditions sound acceptable to those of you in childcare. For clarity we are in the Westcountry and I have no idea what the recommended rate is for a nanny but MN is always my first port of call!

30 hours a week @ £7 an hour:
Mon 8am – 6pm
Tues 8am – 6pm
Wed 8am – 6pm

4 weeks holiday per year (pro rata) plus bank holidays:
12 days + 8 bank holidays = 20 days holiday per year @ full pay

This works out (I think) at £210 a week (£10,920 pa) for what is essentially a 30 hour week over 3 days.

Should I also be thinking about providing petrol costs / food budget / excursion budget etc.

If anyone can give me some advice that would be grand - especially if I am being totally unrealistic!!

Sorry - and obviously full time care (three days a week) of the 4 year old during school holidays.

£7 is that net or gross? It's sounds fairly low
Tbh

For west say Bristol area I would say your looking at £8.50 net, which is around £10/10.50 gross per hour

In comparison London would be £10-12 net (£12-15 gross)

I am in West Midlands. £7 per hour not enough, probably looking at £9-10.
However you have allowed too much holiday. It is calculated by giving 28 days inclusive of bank holidays, then multiplying by 3/5 ie 16.8 (17) days. They are expected to take the bank holidays out of that.
At least I think that's right. I have had nannies for years but always full time

It doesn't matter how many kids there are n the family, the pay is the same

And yes if she is transporting your kids then you pay the petrol. Not to and from work though.
I run a kitty for excursions, food etc if she goes shopping.
I think her food during working hours is usually included too (we do)

Re holiday for three days a week the mon is 17 days hol so if you want to offer 20 that is more than ness so very ok, the wage are you talking net ie what the nanny takes home? Or gross so what you pay her in total? You need to agree gross and put that amount in the contract but I would say the £7 is the nett amount which you need to gross up.
Use Mr anchovys online calculator to work out different amounts to see what you can afford gross wise leaving yourself room for wage increases etc, you can also use this to tell nannies what they will take home as most nannies still like to know that. But as I say make sure only gross is in the contract.

Yes you need to think about extra money for activities both for your 20 month old on a weekly base but also holiday ones for both children and nanny (ie you will need to pay entrance fees for all of them not just the children) food for children at home plus food for nanny while working (usually they eat the same as the children, but nice to have a few things nanny likes too like biscuits etc) mileage costs if you want/need nanny to use own car.

Extra heating/electric as you will have someone at home all day those days whereas normally you are all out.

Yes it is 30 hours over 3 days so would be £210 a week as I say sounds about right for the take home amount but need to work out the gross plus employers ni to work out the final cost to you for wages. Also you will need to provide payslips for the nanny plus reporting to the hmrc etc, you can pay a company to do all the paperwork for you for a yearly fee (another cost to think about)

You'll need to think about these extra costs too:

• Tax to HMRC (your nannywage company will sort that all out for you and will be able to give you an estimate of how much you'll pay per annum.

• Pension contribution for your nanny depending on how many hours she/he does a week. Nannywage Ltd were fantastic when I was completely clueless and about to take on our first nanny - they spelled everything out for me.

• The extra (moderate) expense of having someone in the house all day (heating, lighting)

-The occasional trip out (although you set the pace on this one. We did the occasional 'treat' but mostly it was playgroups and inexpensive activities.

• Food for your nanny as well as your DC during the day as your nanny will eat with the children

• Insurance on your car if your nanny will be driving it (this was only about £30 extra per year, from memory), and yes, petrol - but when the DC are little this tends to be a couple of very local trips so not much at all per week.

That's all I can think of just now, but I'll come back if I think of more.

4 weeks holiday per year (pro rata) plus bank holidays:
12 days + 8 bank holidays = 20 days holiday per year @ full pay

Do not calculate holidays like that.

The formula to use when the working hours each day is the same is:

5.6 weeks x days worked per week

so 5.6 x 3 = 16.8 days

This can then be rounded up but not down.

You could certainly give 20 days if that is what you wanted to do.
You can not give 4 weeks plus bank holidays. The reason being is that bank holidays vary year to year.

In 2015 there are 5 bank holidays that are on a Mon-Wed.
So 12 + 5 = 17.

Ok, just get there as minimum entitlement is 16.8

In other years, there may be more, could be less.

Due to one of the working days being a Monday the chances are good that it will always meet the minimum requirement but would your nanny understand how many days holiday they are getting?

If you want to give 20 days holiday, then put it as 20 days and any bank holiday on a working day is included in that, thus nanny is expected to take that bank holiday as part of their annual leave.

I agree that £7 gross an hour is probably unrealistic as it is close to minimum wage. It may well be better than someone might get in another job but it may not make it that attractive to someone. Advertise and see who you get but do consider if you can offer more, £8 gross may make it more attractive a job proposition.

How does it compare to other jobs in the area? Are there any nannying jobs to compare it against?

Should I also be thinking about providing petrol costs / food budget / excursion budget etc.

Yes. All mileage done as part of the job is payable and I would suggest you offer 45p per mile (the HMRC AMR) as the cost of the nanny providing a suitable car is high. It is not to cover the petrol but to cover other car related things as well, so insurance, road tax, cost of the car itself, new tyres from time to time, routine maintenance, cleaning (children make cars rather messy).
You should factor in supplying suitable car seats - not very practical to keep switching them in and out, so may mean you double up on seats.

Set an activity budget. £2.50 per day per child may be a starting point. See how it goes. You may find that is too much or not enough depending on the cost of activities in the area. Some things can be low cost - a toddler group - others rather costly, like Indoor SoftPlay. So costs may vary by time of year and as children get older (children can be free entry to some places but only up to a certain age, such as age 5 - think National Trust as an example).

Look into season passes/membership for places which are visited often.

Food is hard to quantify - aim for nanny to eat meals with the children and ideally eat the same things.

Make sure you track holiday approval - if you let your nanny take time off and they use up all their holiday entitlement, then you decide to go away for a few days as a family, you still pay the nanny.

As employer you can dictate when your employee takes holiday, though it is better for the relationship to let them have some choice. If you need to restrict holiday to being taken during school holidays, make that clear at the start. You may want to vary that on specific occasions, or give compassionate leave, for example what if the nanny needs to attend a funeral during school term time?

View the contract as setting out the minimum holiday. In reality your nanny may get more, as it is all about relationship. You and your nanny need to get along and in a good relationship there is a bit of give and take on both sides. Same goes of the working hours - if you get home early, let nanny leave early. Then if you call to say you are running late, nanny may be more inclined to reasonable about you being late back home. Remember that your nanny has a life outside of their day job, so do get home on time whenever possible and let them know as soon as you realise you may not make the finish time. They in turn will arrive on time and let you know if there is a problem with getting to you on time - things do happen, floods, snow, nail in tyre, car won't start.

Seems a low salary- our part-time nanny charges £9 an hour (west country).

Thanks everyone for your advice so far (especially Nannynick - you are a font of all knowledge!)
I have taken everything you've said on board and may well be back with more questions once we have mulled it over.
Cheers

£7 really isnt enough tbh.

£7 gross is totally not enough (is the take home pay actully above minium wage?) yes i know £7 is above minium wage but if its gross would it actully be worth a nannies time to work for a take home pay at a rate less then minium wage?

Don't forget to include employers national insurance