Need Some Help with Mother's Help

[CradledCupid]

Hi lovely people! I will need to get a bit of help from experienced ones before I go ahead and search for a mothers help. Here are some questions:

Q1: What is the best place to look for a mothers help?
Q2: How much did you pay for yours ?
Q3: What happens with tax and insurance? If part time, what is the limit of working hours, for the employer to be exempt from tax and insurance?

Thank you!

I can help with Q3.
There is no limit on working hours to my knowledge. As an employer of domestic staff, you are not exempt from deducting tax and NI payments from your employees earnings.

However, if you pay £700 or less per month, then you can use the Simplified PAYE scheme.

Employers NICs do not start to kick in until your employee is earning over £100 per week. See NICs Table (07/08 tax year)

Agree a Gross (taxable pay) salary, then you won't get any nasty surprises if your employees tax code changes. From your employees Gross pay you deduct Tax and NI on behalf of your employee, and also pay Employers NICs (if employee's gross salary is over £100 per week).

thanks for Q3
and bump for Q1 and Q2!

Hi i'm a mothers help! I found work initially through an agency who put forward my CV to prospective employers they thought suited and employers paid a fee for this service (one off approx £100 4 yrs ago). I have since found positions from being passed around families! I have worked within the American community where families are here for a couple of years and then gone. My families usually help me find more work or i recieve offers through school runs etc.

I also answered an add in the local paper.

I currently earn £6 per hr net (Surrey/Hants)and take my DS with me.

HTH xx

Thanks Chattyhan, this is helpful.
Perhaps mumsnet is a good place to place an ad...

I used an agency, on the basis I had more cash than time at that point.

3 years ago in central London my MH got £8 an hour after tax

I've placed an ad on Mumsnet before - admittedly not for a childcare position - and got no response. Try Gumtree or Simply Childcare, if you're going to use the web.

Thanks fridayschild !

What is the difference between a mothers help and a au pair?