Nanny with illness or disability

[venys]

This is a hypothetical question at the moment, but a part time temporary nanny I have recently employed as suggested going on a payment scheme which suggests she may be currently on some kind of incapacity benefit (this could be wrong though). I have a feeling she has a mild learning disability which is fine, but it could be something more. My son has a moderate learning disability too so I am all up for equal opportunities. But my question is, if a nanny has a condition that is severe enough to be on a benefit e.g a mental health problem , then could you realistically have them employed in a sole charge capacity of 3 under 5 year olds (not all at once). The literature online seems to suggest you can't discriminate and nor does an employee have to disclose their condition, but there are limits surely?

What sort of payment scheme?

I'd not want to pay anyone anything other than legally, with PAYE and all the rest of it. If she's asking for cash in hand because she's claiming something means tested, then no thanks, no matter what reason, frankly.

It's something called Permitted Work? Can only work less than 16 hours a week and not more than £107.50 per week and benefit won't be affected. She isn't asking for cash fortunately - wasn't going there.

It may not be ESA related.

PIP or DLA is not income based and does not have a permitted work allowance.

There is a permitted work allowance for quite a few different benefits including carers allowance.

Has she been living or working elsewhere in the EEA? Because you can qualify for ESA if you have made contibutions to. Social security system with which UK has a rciprocal agreement - might also include some Commonwealth. You can then only work 16 hours a week "permitted work"

You are employing her in your home to look after you DC. Ask her directly why she wants to be paid in this way. It is a perfectly reasonable question from a prospective employer. She will probably have a straightforward explanation.

It's not discrimination to check that the employee has the capacity to do the work. It would be discrimination to assume that because they get some kind of disability benefit they therefore cannot do the job.

I think I need to check what benefits she is getting. Google wasn't helpful in this case. Depending on the answer will allow me to ask about capability of doing the job. Show hasn't been elsewhere in EEA.

Would you know that they had a condition? With them mentioning the Permitted Work thing (had to google that one, not heard about that before) then would you be able to ask them what their disability is - not sure if you can ask.

You would have to decide through the recruitment process that they were a fit person to do the job - cv, interview, talk to references, interview with children present.
You would then do continuous assessment during their probation period, picking up on any areas of weakness, giving opportunity to improve. This could be hard to do if they have sole charge of one or more of your children but if you can create time where you are also present, then that may help you get a better feel for their capabilities and any limitations.

Telling People About Your Disability - this guide is for students with a disability but it could be useful as it talks about the various issues involved in telling an employer about a disability.

Could it possibly be carers allowance? She may be claiming as she's caring for a family member? Not sure exactly how it works but I think maximum earnings whilst claiming are around that figure.

Permitted work is a legal way for people claiming esa to work and maintain there benefits the claimants are limited to less than 16 hours per week and can only earn a certain amount. Im not sure about your other questions in regard to leaving children and the nature of the persons illness esa can be awarded for both mental health and obvious health problems both of which I suppose depends on how much the potential employee declares to you in order to make your choice if you want to employ or not. My workplace used to help people on esa find permitted work and most of the time it was a life line to them they felt secure knowing they had there esa but they could test out working as you can only do permitted work for a limited period I think it's one year.