Nanny getting Ofsted registration - costs and split

[LightTripper]

Hi All,

I'm sorry if this has been covered, I could only find ancient threads in the search!

I've made an offer to a new nanny (desperately hoping she'll say yes, she's lovely!) and she isn't currently Ofsted registered but is willing to be.

I'm just putting together a draft contract and want to suggest a fair split of costs that recognises that certain parts of the Ofsted registration are only really of benefit to me. With my last nanny I agreed to pay for the Ofsted registration fee itself and the cost of new first aid certificates (with my nanny doing the course on her own time: so that seemed like an even split on the first aid). My understanding is the Ofsted fee includes a DBS check (?), but my nanny would need to pay her own insurance (around £80) - is there anything else I've forgotten? I remember from last time we were looking that for some reason you shouldn't offer to pay for the insurance, is that right?

My memory is that I can just roll up my vouchers from work and use them when the registration comes through (as I think this may take a few months) - unless anybody knows different?

The lady I've made an offer to already has a Cache level 3 NVQ in children's care, learning and development, and level 1 in safeguarding children, so I am hoping that should cover her from the point of view of childcare qualifications? I've tried in vain to find a list of acceptable qualifications online!

LT

The Ofsted fee no longer includes a DBS check.

DBS is around £53 via Capita/Ofsted. DBS update is £13 per year. So year1 cost is £66, year2 £13, then £13 each year - least that is the idea of DBS update.

First Aid, nanny public liability insurance, childcare training, DBS check are all things I view as being the nanny's responsibility as they should ideally have those regardless of Ofsted registration.

The annual Ofsted fee (£103) is another matter. If job is advertised as requiring an Ofsted registered nanny then I feel it is fair for nanny to pay. If the job is on offer to non-registered nannies and then parents decide they need someone registered, then fair for parents to pay.

You are being more than reasonable to say you will pay Ofsted fee and First Aid.

Qualifications list
www.education.gov.uk/eypqd/qualifications.shtml

Need level 2 or above courses, or Common Core Skills & Knowledge (a very short course covering multi-agency working).

CACHE Level 3 NVQ will be fine if Certificate or Diploma, not sure about the Award level. Take a look at the qualification certificate, if it is a Diploma then the course was 18-24 months long, Certificate is around a year.
See if you can find it on the list linked.

Childcare vouchers - you should be able to stockpile them for a while. Your employer/their voucher company can provide you with more details including how long the voucher remain valid.

Ofsted registration can take several months, as can the DBS check. It does vary a lot, so timescale is unknown. DBS has to be applied for first, then the Ofsted form needs completing.

Do you need a guide for your nanny to help them complete the DBS and Ofsted forms?

It says 2010-2011, so I suspect it was a 1 year course: so probably certificate? Although I can see she was working as a Nursery Teaching Assistant at the same time: not sure if that would be part of the course of if it would have been part time? She became a Nursery Teacher at the same place having completed the course, so hopefully if it is good enough for that it will be good enough for the nanny regs. Thanks for the list! She also has a 3 year qualifications in another EU country in Social Pedagogic work, which she says is "equivalent to NVQ3 in childcare", so maybe that would have allowed her to do the NVQ faster through a conversion? Ah well ... I will ask her if she says yes to the job, I'm sure she has ample qualifications it's just whether the bits of paper are on the relevant list...

She actually brought the certificate with her to interview, but I didn't look very carefully :-/

I'll check with our providers re: the vouchers, thanks: my OH definitely accrued a few months' worth while I was on mat leave, so his scheme at least must allow you to roll over for a few months.

If you could point me to any kind of guide that would be most useful, thanks!!

LT

She does have an Enhanced DBS, but not through Ofsted I assume, so I might offer to pay for at least the initial one I think as she'll be effectively duplicating her cost just to jump through the Ofsted hoop... I did advertise for Ofsted or willing to obtain Ofsted, so it seems fair I pay at least part of the cost. In the scheme of things it's not so much (will be easily outweighed by the vouchers if we can use them!)

OP I think you're right to pay the cost of Ofsted registration (Nick and I always disagree on this!). The benefit is entirely for the family. For the nanny it either makes no difference at all or is a pain depending on how jobsworthy/incompetent the person dealing with registration is. They are generally a pain in the arse to deal with.

I agree with Nick that a nanny should be first aid trained on arrival as that's necessary regardless of Ofsted registration. However, I do think that a good employer will pay for renewal costs because it comes under the bracket of required skill/CPD, which most non-nanny employers will pay for. Certainly all the families I've worked for have paid for my first aid training when it needed renewing (but I had arrived with first aid training so they didn't need to pay initially). If you are going to pay I would write into your contract that you can recoup the payment if she leaves within a certain timeframe. You don't want to end up training her up for her to leave for something else 6 weeks later!

Childcare vouchers can be saved up. How long you can save them probably depends on the company, but I know some companies have quite a long date on them.

Nick is the DBS not being included only for newly registered nannies? I've been registered a while and have never paid separately for the DBS. I've never received anything telling me I should have and I was inspected recently and they didn't mention anything then either? Just had a sudden panic that my DBS isn't valid anymore.....although surely that would have come up at the inspection??

NannyPaye - Step by step guide for obtaining DBS and Ofsted Registration as a nanny (Home Childcarer) (pdf)

NuffSaidSam Yes, there are always a few things we disagree on ;-)
Whilst the majority of the benefit is for the family, if a nanny who was not registered found they could not get jobs, then registration is a benefit to them. I expect we may see a change to how it is viewed in 2017, as many more parents I think will be wanting someone registered so they can use TFC or Vouchers.

Writing about recouping some of the registration/training money is a good idea, many contracts do contain a clause for that... your payroll provider will be able to put such a clause in the contract you are paying them to produce the contract.

DBS has not been included since September 2014 when DfE stopped funding CRB/DBS checks. Any checks made by Ofsted prior to then are deemed valid by Ofsted and will remain so until such time as Ofsted decides. Good practice is to get a new check done if you change job and many nanny agencies will insist upon that. You can get a new check done anytime you like, follow first part of the guide for how to obtain a DBS check and have it on the DBS Update Service.

Just a quick one from me, to say that your nanny MUST pay for the insurance herself and you cannot reimburse her, otherwise it invalidates the insurance. Ie if the worse were to happen, and you're trying to make a claim against her insurance, then you're effectively claiming against yourself.

Thanks for the guide Nick, will pass that on!

I thought I'd read something like that Blingy, thanks for confirming!

blingy could you possibly point me in the direction of this info ( have googled and can't find) or is it just in the policy/general legal principles? Thanks!

I think this falls under non-disclosure. Insurers need to be told of all factors that may change the risk involved. If the insurer knows the policy is being paid by someone who could be the benefactor of a claim, then that may or may not change the insurers attitude towards the risk.

I agree that all professional nannies should have first aid - dbs and pli

But being ofsted reg doesn't benifit the nanny and employee should pay the cost to register

Yes can argue that the nanny needs to be to get a job - tho I've never been and been a qualified nanny for 25yrs and never had a problem getting a job

Quite happy to be ofsted reg but the employer pays for it

The nannies I do know who are ofsted reg seem to get paid at diff times of months and in drips and drabs so yes if you can save up a few months so can always make sure vouchers and remainder of pay go in together on the date you agree in the contract then the nanny will be happier :)

Thanks nick
blondes it was my new nanny that insisted on maintaining her Ofsted reg with me, I didn't actually need it ( although probably will if the new childcare voucher system ever comes in!). It was actually a bit awkward as she assumed I would pay it all as her previous employers had but hadn't brought it up in interview. Because it came up when she had been with us a month and is a good nanny for the kids I ended up paying for it even tho I don't need it ( and couldn't particularly afford it). Also a bit awkward as can only assume she wants to keep it up incase she needs to find another job.

Meant employer not employee 😳

Must proof read

But in your case if you don't actually need your nanny to be ofsted reg then cheeky for her to ask you to pay for it

Sadly does sound like she may want to keep it going for any other jobs she may do in the next year - is your part time?

From what I gather it is easier to keep one running rather then cancel/not renew it then need to in the future

But then it's her choice to keep it going and she should pay

In the past we have paid for Ofstead registration, but not any courses, first aid, insurance. We will do the same with next nanny.

Good luck am trying to find one already ofsted registered. Going to register myself.