Getting a nanny for the first time

[1dilemma]

OK wise mumsnetters we may be doing this and I would appreciate advice about the things I have to take into account.
I know we need a contract is there any thing people wished they had included that isn't standard?
I know we will need to contact our insurer about employers liability insurance
I know we need to discuss a float/kitty and what it can be spent on
I know we need to discuss holidays (I think it is usual to do half hers and half ours) She will want (I think) different weeks from us if we could cope with this would it be unreasonable to pay her for hers and suggest she takes ours as unpaid? (oh and I was working on 20 days a year is this reasonable? plus BH of course)
What is protocol about us coming home late or needing her to start a bit early (this would be very occasional and of the order of 10/15 minutes) do we have to pay more?
We would prob use a nanny tax type service any one know any good ones?
Thanks for any advice

Be warned agency fees are expensive

Thanks nannyjo
I just thought a way round the 10 days my choice 10 days yours (at least for this year) would be OK you have your 10 days paid but I want my 10 and I want not to pay you(iyswim) that way she gets the days of her chioce and I get mine the alternative would be for me to insist on the usual and then we would both be grumpy. I do take your point I'm guessing from your name you're a nanny wouild you buy that arrangement? Or would you rather loose choice over half your holiday?

1. Contract - I used a standard one I downloaded from nannyjob.co.uk - didn't wish I had anything else in it, but do wish I had been more explicit in the job description - I did a little booklet about my children, what they liked to eat, places to take them, their routines etc but was a bit to easygoing so nanny thought it was acceptable to take the children to her parents to watch videos, to give them McD's milkshakes (although she knew not to feed them burgers), and to invite her boyfriend around during working hours (for a few mins she says but I would rather she kept her working hours for work).
2. You could also ask your nanny if he/she would take out liability insurance (eg. michael morton) and if you are lovely you could offer to pay for it. We found that employers liability was included in our house insurance but that since she had a key we were no longer covered for any theft which did not include a break-in.
3. Def discuss the amount of float -whether or not you need evidence (receipts) of what was spent, and PETROL money - that can really add up! 4)We did 20 days hols plus bank hols - nanny tried to take days when we were also away, but also would take days off with very little notice. If I were to employ a long term nanny again I would go for the 'we choose 10 days, you choose 10 days' and insist on blocks of 5 days at a time..BUT if we take more than these days off, nanny gets paid (as she is still available for work) - this is standard in my experience. 5)We had a bit in the contract to say that if we needed nanny to work outside normal contracted hours and She agreed then she would be paid extra..I was very very occasionally late home due to delayed train and she normally was fine with this as I texted her as soon as I could and because several times a week she got to leave early as we made sure the contracted hours had some time in case of delay (you can use this to chat to nanny and get a rundown of the day) 6)I use nannypaye - Graham is great and it's cheaper than nannytax.

Other things I would think about are:
Sick leave/pay - some only offer SSP (so no pay for first 3 days and then legal min), but I offered full pay for first 3 days then SSP - nanny then took 2 seperate days off 'sick' because she was 'tired'...so next time I would go along with the no-pay gang and then pay up anyway if I felt nanny was genuine.
Talking to nanny - Make time in your schedule to regularly talk to your nanny, sounds dim but it's so easy to get tied up with racing to get to work and nanny racing to get home, but otherwise little things build up on both sides. If you can't build time to talk into your day put it in your contract/job description that you will have a meeting once a month to discuss things...even if all you discuss is how happy you all are

Oh and car seats! If nanny is using her car/nanny car then you need to provide car seats and show him/her how to fit them..if possible try not to have to move seats from car to car, it gets really irritating (believe me) and can be dangerous as it increases the likelihood of a seat not being fitted properly.

Thanks all
Kaloo20 I think I have found one without an agency then I wonder if I am mad to do so.
I think I will be more specific re the holiday. New nanny, she hinted that she wants time off in July we don't (last year with no children at school so don't want school hols) but I want time of in Sept for first week of school. So would it be fair if I pay her for half her time off and half mine then we both take the other half unpaid (otherwise we will have exhausted paid leave for her about 3 months into the job not wise methinks suppose she then leaves does she have to pay us back?)

I will be off to look at nannypaye/nanny tax I saw kiwioz will do it for about 130 pounds and it says you get 250 back from IR!!!Re car and seats and mileage I'm kind of hoping she wont want to drive too much (inner London so no real need most of the time)who pays parking tickets?

no 20 plus bank holidays. I really want to be a good employer (hence I'm trying to let her have all the holiday she wants) to be mean doesn't fit with the way I'm trying to live AND I'm trusting her with my most valuable 'things'
She wants 2 weeks July I want 2 weeks before November hence all paid leave for her used up in 4 months again what if she leaves in Dec?

I really didn't mean to call my children 'things' they are not Dr Seuss stars must preview next time!

Yes, you get £250 back from IR if you pay your tax using an electronic return, which helps pay for the payroll service - but on the other hand if you submit your own return you get the whole £250 to yourself!

Holiday-wise - I would discuss with your chosen nanny again..the legal min is 20 days PAID hol, but this can include bank hols (although including bank hols is very unusual). If nanny wants time off in July but you can't cover it you can a) say no (but have an unhappy nanny) b) accept it, take time off to cover her hol and be happy knowing that after Sept you won't have to worry too much about covering future hol since most of it is used up. c)give her the time off and hire a temp to cover it (not too hard to find a temp in summer hol time as people like school nursery nurses are looking for hol jobs (we are employing a trainee teacher as a nanny this summer).
If he/she leaves after taking more than the proportion of annual leave that she is due then I should think that you could claim a representative part of his/her last month's pay - OR you could make it clear that her leave is ACCRUED, so can only be taken in the amount it is earnt. eg> 1.6days accrued each month (I had an employer a while ago who insisted on this, it was annoying..I had to work for a few months before I could take a full week off)

Really must concentrate sorry NurseyJo I've called you nannyjo further down (is that someone else?) and I've cross posted sorry again. I do appreciate you talking to me about this. I had forgotten about deducting it off last months salary. Re refs I plan to see 2 written and call her current employer. I gather that is = or > most agencies anyway.

Thanks Millarkie can I ask is DIY on the tax return difficult? I had thought the nanny would prefer it being done the other way since then she knows her tax/ni is correct. And thinking ahead here can I sneekily ask how you found your summer nanny/nursery nurse?

Yes NurseyJo I think I will, I really don't want to do the 1.6 days a month thing, mean imho and I want to get this right.

She has offered to bring all her written references with her so we will see what turns up.
I will try and speak to more!
Thanks again

No idea on the DIY tax return - I am lazy and use nannypaye
You, need Nannynick - he is great at links to relevant websites and I think that there is a CD Rom you can get from the IR that helps you.
As to what nannys prefer - it depends on the nanny.

We found our summer hol nanny via her ad on gumtree I was thinking of putting an ad on looking for someone, but saw her ad, emailed her, met her, getting refs now (dh is insisting on photo id plus copy of CRB plus phone calls to referees just in case she has stolen someone else's identitiy )

Thanks again guys I did look at gumtree but gave up after about 3 pages of generally unsuitable people all of which had been posted in about 2 days! some were very funny though.
Yes passport, CRB less than 1 year old and referees is what I've gathered from somewhere probably here! I was wondering whether to ask for her current employers work number just to be doubly sure she wasn't a relative!!

By the way the online tax return bonus from the Revenue is not £250 anymore. It is £150 for 2006/7, £100 for 2007/8 and £75 in 2008/9 then it stops. The CD comes in a couple of days and seems pretty comprehensive but I havent actually used it yet as the nanny doesnt start for a few weeks - she is coming to pick up the draft contract tomorrow.

Mean old GB!

Query, is this a live-in, or live-out nanny, as employment law does not often cover live-in domestic staff!

Employers Liability Insurance - this is usually in your household insurance policy, though check with your insurer, especially if you have accidental damage cover.

Doing payroll for one employee who works for you full-time and has no other employment is really quite easy, you don't need to use a payroll service - see P49 . HMRC will provide much of what you need in the new employers pack, including a CD-ROM for PC which has calculators on it to help fill in the paperwork. If you want the reassurance of someone else helping you do the paperwork, then use a payroll company, but don't feel that you have to do so - my employer doesn't use one. I would suggest trying to start it yourself, and if you find you get really stuck and with the New Employer Helpline's help you still feel stuck, then use a payroll company.
If you do want to use a payroll company, use TaxingNannies or NannyPAYE , both seem to know what they are doing and are friendly to non-clients making initial enquiries.
Not sure the £250 money back thing still exists. Online Filing 2007 indicates that it is £150 for the 2006-07 return. The TaxingNannies website also mentions it being £150 and dropping to £100 and then £75 over coming years. Avoid factoring this rebate into your calculations - see it as being a bonus if you get it, as over time it is likely to reduce and getting the payment is not guaranteed.

Not sure I understand what you are trying to do regarding the holiday entitlement. Presuming the nanny is live-out, then you have to give the statutory holiday entitlement - currently 4 weeks, thus 20 days if working 5 days per week. Holiday Rights information - Possible increase in Holiday Entitlement from October 2007 As NurseryJo has said, using the Accural System may be best, so your nanny gets holiday based on how long she has worked for you. The Accrual System can only be used for the first year of employment.

Coming home a little late... this happens in my job on occasion due to the M3 traffic. Over the course of a year, it evens itself out, as some days you will be early, others late. If you find that you are 'owing' time, then you can always give your employee a day off.

Contracts - if using a standard contract, make sure you add to the Gross Misconduct section, so that it shows clearly what is considered to be a sack-able offence. Tribunals don't seem to like there being lots of things in that section, so make the disciplinary procedure clear, so that when it is not gross misconduct you can issue a written warning, and after two of those then you have reason to dismiss your employee.
ACAS is a good place to visit for information about how to prepare a contract, including Producing disciplinary procedure .

CRB checks - employers still can't get these done on individual employees. But if you register your nanny on the Ofsted Childcare Register (in England), then they will get an Enhanced CRB check via that process. Your nanny will need to be on the OCR scheme if you intend to pay using Childcare Vouchers.
OCR officially launches on Monday (16 april) so for now old scheme can be found at Childcare Approval Scheme website .