Ok, I have lots of questions about hiring a nanny. Can anyone help?

[homemama]

Before I had DD I was teaching one day a week but school have now offered me 3 days (mon-wed) from sept which I'm seriously considering. I've got until the end of the week tomake up my mind so I've got to get it straight in my head.

Anyway, all w/e I've been thinking about which childcare option would be best and I'm now thinking nanny. (Please feel free to suggest if you think another option may be better )

So, I need help with the following;

1. Are there many nannies who would be interested in mon-wed? (I couldn't see anything on the nannyshare website)

2. How much should I pay them? Is the hourly rate usually higher if it's p/t?
   I'm in surrey btw (berkshire end rather than london end if that makes a difference) Oh and it would be live out.

3)I'm a teacher so is it reasonable to ask them to take their hols during school hols as I've heard they should choose half but I'm not sure how I could do this.

4. If I just buy the food, is it ok to ask them to cook for the children or do I need to cook for it to be reheated?

There is lots more but I can't think at the moment so I'll post them later.
Does anyone think I'll be better off with cm or nursery? I'm worried that I wouldn't get the hours I need from either of these these as I need 7am-4pm

All help and advice will be gratefully received!
TIA

SSP kicks in after 3 waiting days are finished but I have always just paid it immediately on the basis that they can't help being ill. You can do this after say 6 months of working for you. Think carefully about the finish time - asking for a 4.30 knocking off time may be better as it gives you flexibility (even if just to nip into Sainsburys on the way home from work). I have never reduced the pay for my 2 nannies who had their own child. Maybe if they had a small baby?

While your children are little it does makes sense to have someon e around all day as it helps out when they are ill.There are loads of us on MN with nanny experiences - mostly good! - so do ask other things. and nannynick comes highly recommended

We pay 12ph gross in north London.

full pay all the time to be honest. Our nanny was really ill before xmas and it cost me a fortune but she is worth it.

whoops! I just treat her how I'd like to be treated. annual pay review, 3 month, 6 months review when she was new and full pay for all hospital/sickness etc. And paid her in full for a few days when her dad was v. ill.seems the human human response

I put SSP in the contract, but in reality have not never not paid her in full. I only have SSP in the contract to protect if I have a nanny who likes to pull sickies. It has never happened though.

My bosses have SSP in my contract but paid me the 2 days (in 3 years) sick i had off with chicken pox. Definately have it in there to protect yourself.

That's a good idea, thanks. Of course if she is rarely ill then it's not a worry and I'll pay her in full. The problem would be if it was regular or long term.

Do you all think £8ph net is reasonable for my side of surrey and for a 3day wk? Agencies seem to think not.
Oh and where arethe best places to advertise?

try £8 I think agencies exaggerate. try nannyjob.co.uk, findasitter.co.uk and nannyselect.co.uk. good luck

btw, sickness has never been a big issue for me as an employer but it one of the things you need to think about like what about odd days off, eg to go to a special thing hse/he wants to do? need a plan!

Do you mean with regard to annual leave, ska?
I think this would be difficult as neither DH nor I would get paid if we didn't go in. So, if she took a day off in term time it would need to be unpaid. Although I would pay her/him for attendance at a funeral as I think that's slightly different. I wonder if I can add all these clauses/exceptions to the contract?

i don't mean that you just need to think about the circumstances in which you could allow an odd day off (paid or otherwise) during the week. I have always asked that if it is needed that I get as much notice as possible as like you i couldn't work if i didin't have the child care. one nanny i had early on seemed to think it was ok to say 'i need next tuesday off' on the wednesday before and i simply couldn't accommodate it and it caused tensions. you will have a 'so many weeks' holiday clause anyway.

Occasional Days Off

I had this recently. I had a day off to go to a funeral. Not sure how my boss covered it exactly, but they managed. Expect one of them (both teachers) arranged for a teacher to cover their lessons, and did the planning etc at home.

Do you all think £8ph net is reasonable for my side of surrey and for a 3day wk?

Yes, though I haven't job hunted since mid 2005, so things may have changed.

Just looked at an agency listing, closest match I could get was a 3 day a week job, just inside Berkshire (Crowthorne), 11 hour days, £210-£240 net per week (about £15,600 gross per annum). That is £6.36 to £7.27 net per hour.

Childrens Professional Services (an agency near Camberley, Surrey - so close to Hampshire/Surrey border) has a 1 day per week job listing, £7-£8 per hour net. They have another which is 2 days per week in Fleet, North East Hampshire, which again is £7-£8 net per hour.

Agencies seem to think not.
Which agencies have you tried? CPS clearly do advertise part-time nanny jobs at £8 net per hour, and they are probably quite local to you.

Oh and where are the best places to advertise?

Everywhere you can really... When I was looking for work in 2005, I looked at: Mumsnet - of course , Gumtree (Guildford and Reading), NannyJob, NannySelect, Local Newspapers: Surrey Advertiser (Guildford based newspaper) and Fleet News & Mail, The Star (North Hants). I would keep an eye on local newsagents notice boards. Found my current job via NannyJob, though the parents had most detail about their job at NannySelect, so was directed there for additional info about the job. Interestingly, I was registered with a local nanny agency whom the parents were also with, but the agency didn't match me with the job for some reason.

Wonderful advice again. Thank you!

SOME THOUGHTS THAT MAY HELP.Not sure how old your youngest is?
Would you consider someone just qualified who could start before September, so you can train them up and they and you can get the confidence they may need before sole charge? Bracknell College people finish in June I believe, and do placements as part of their jobs.
We have a great nanny in her first job. She worked with me over the summer until I went back to work, now has sole charge of what was then 3 months, 2 yrs and a 3.5 year old at 8.30-3.30 preschool.
Like you I have an early start and finish, which suits her, but do allow enough time for a decent handover, changing your clothes/kettle on and catch up-I'd say 15 mins a day at least.This is invaluable and means you are not taking over in a rushed state.
Pay really has to be what you think they are worth for the job, if you under pay they will leave.£8 net is a good rate here in urban Berkshire.
We have had recent illness and almost went down the emergency nanny route. I haven't used it but would consider www.emergencychildcare.co.uk which indicates nurseries, childminders and allegedly nannies (but it's actually a link to Tinies-£15 an hour all in).Our nanny was able to get a nanny friend to sub.

hurry to register at emergency childcare because they are about to introduce a registration charge. definitely agree about handover time, it's why i said leave yourself some slack. a newly qualified nanny is a good idea - we used one, she didn't work out but other people i know have had great ones

Thanks for the advice about emergency childcare, I probably should do something there.

Madchad, the handover thing is a good idea actually! I'm now thinking 7.30-4.30 though when I initially said 7.30-4pm to the agency they said that would be less attractive to a nanny because they want 10h days to make a good enough salary. Though advice on here seems to be that they inflate salary anyway.

I'm still wondering which agency you have been chatting with Homemama.

PS. Did you get my CAT? Just wondering, as first ever time I've tried using the MumsNet CAT system and have no idea if actually worked.

Hi NN, no I didn't get your CAT. Not sure if I need to pay to receive them.
My email is [email protected]

One of the agencies was family match. I can't remember the other but it had lots of black and white photos on the website and pictures of nannies in uniform pushing enormous silver cross prams.

Good news is that today I've had 3 emails from nannies on nannyjob and they all seem interested in the hours and the rate. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions before interviewing.
Thanks everyone for all your help.

No, you don't have to pay to receive a CAT, but you do have to have the option enabled. To send a CAT you have to pay (a yearly fee), which I had paid, and didn't get any error when trying to send you a CAT... so not sure what went wrong.

Good to hear you have some leads via NannyJob. Interesting that you weren't using local agencies. Around the Surrey/Hampshire border there are quite a few agencies... if nothing results from the NannyJob enquiries then I can suggest agencies to try, but hiring a nanny isn't rocket science, so you can do it all yourself, with the help of us lot here on Mumsnet.