Nanny in SW London / Kingston area - salary, p/t hours - not sure where to start!!!

[Queazy]

Hi

I'm trying to work out childcare for two children when I go back to work after dc2. I need to keep dd1 in nursery 3 days a week for reduced fees there, and have a work nursery I should be able to get dc2 in at least a couple of days a week. The option is then to either get a nanny to fill the couple of days gap, or use my current childminder. It would be amazing to have someone who came to me, and where the kids could be together for one of their four childcare days a week. Sorry for long explanation!

I'm not sure how feasible hiring a nanny is for me. Roughly how much do nannies charge in the SW London / Kingston area? I've been working on about £10 net an hour just to look at gross pay on the Nanny Tax website. Is this salary too low? I'd want someone with at least 2-3 years experience.

Thanks all - sorry for basic questions!

We live quite close, and I think £10-£11 net is about right for the area. Don't forget to cost in food and activities.

1 or 2 days can actually work well for a nanny, since she can combine that with a 3 day job where the mum is working part-time, which is quite common.

Nannies do not charge. You are offering a job and decide on the salary. You advertise the job and see who applies. Someone may try and negotiate for a higher salary but you will choose the right candidate based on those who apply and the budget you have available.

I agree that £10+ net is realistic. £12/£12.50 gross. Try to think of salary in gross terms as that is your real cost. You can not be certain that all of the nannies personal tax allowance will be allocated to the job, so there could be a lot of employee taxes involved. Nannies will often want to know net salary, so do some figures based on 1060L taxcode. Payroll companies will happily talk to you about net vs gross salaries and may talk about costs of having a nanny more generally, though may not be able to say what typical salary is in an area. Call up some payroll providers and have a chat, nannytax are the biggest provider, nannypaye seem to be second biggest, see who answers the phone promptly and whom you gel with most. If you have a great relationship with your payroll provider, you can ask them questions whenever something comes up involving your nanny, such as them taking time off, holiday entitlement and how that works in practice.

Be clear about what you expect your nanny to do. It can help to have a job description. Over time what your nanny actually does will change but initially you want particular things done and you generally want them done your way. You also want a nanny who uses their initiative so you don't have to micromanage them, someone who finds new activities, new groups, places to go of interest to your children. You are sort of looking for someone like yourself, as you want them to fit with your parenting style.

One or two days could suit someone very well. Be as flexible as you can about which days, though it will depend when you get the nursery places. Also think longer term, what would happen when your eldest starts school? That may be a year or two away, which is not that long. Your childcare needs change over time but it can be nice to have some consistency and your nanny may do more than just childcare, such as help reduce the size of the wash mountain.

How will a nanny transport your children to places? Think about travel costs, where nanny would park their car? Parking permit schemes can be tricky, is there one in your street? Whilst on that topic, think about how far you feel it is reasonable for nanny to travel to work... Little point interviewing someone who lives an hours drive away if you would constantly worry about them arriving to work late. It is perception though often, as someone living close could stay in bed too late! Mentally though it is something you think about and it can be a worry.

A nanny should help you, not make more work for you. Payroll companies are there to remove the hassle. You want your children to be happy and you want to be happy, so think of what you really want your nanny to do, then find someone who will do it at a salary you can afford to pay.

Thanks so much for your advice. I hadn't factored in parking costs or food, which though not huge here, will add up over time. Even lighting, heating etc at home will add up I guess, so I do really need to look at the details. I thought £10-£11 net was likely and have already looked at the gross pay via nannytax but was very aware of 'hidden' costs.

More work to be done....

Thanks all

Lighting and heating at home will possibly be a factor but it depends what you compare it against.
If you were at home, then it would be similar.
If you used a different form of childcare, then power consumption during the day would be lower but by how much? Your heating may be on a timer, or on all the time and thermostat controlled so there may not be that much difference.

Try to focus on bigger costs which you can try to estimate. Some will be fixed cost such as payroll admin charge and some which relate to other costs, such as employers ni relates to nannies gross salary. The amount of travel your nanny does whilst working could be estimated, though allow some extra. If it costs to park by your home look in to parking permit costs.
Also look at ways savings can be made, such as annual passes for places used frequently.