part time day & evening nanny - how much should I pay?

[BunInTum]

Hi all

I'm really getting in a pickle I'm trying to recruit a nanny/approved homecarer for Wed, Thurs and Fri evenings, and 6 hours on Thurs and Fri days.

How much should I pay gross? I need to offer gross as it's part time and lots of ppl already have another job.

I was thinking £250 for the 3 days - what do you think?

just to add i'm in Bucks

What are the actual hours each day, eg. start time and finish time?

Generally, a gross salary rate I would expect would be around £7 to £10 per hour, depending on how experienced/qualified you require someone to be. Local market variations and unsocial hours may increase that price range. £250 gross sounds fine if it's say 20-25 hours a week.

I think it's going to be more hours than that then. I'm looking at about 6.5 babysitting hours on each of those 3 nights and as I was going to offer the option if live in from Wed to Fri to save driving back and forth, I was going to include about 10-12 day hours across the 2 days.

Ok I guess I have 2 options depending on whether someone lives near or not. So, if I was to offer say 21 babysitting hours across 3 nights finishing at 1.30am how much do u reckon I should pay for just that?

Then also, to add 10-12 hrs to that what would be a reasonable offer?

The most important thing for me is that they have the ofsted/surestart approval, I'm not looking for someone with yrs of experience.

Do I need to pay tax if I'm claiming tax credits for the nanny to do babysitting?

Thank u for your help on this, it's had me pulling my hair out for days trying to work everything out!!

This looks to me to be a little messy, and thus finding someone to do the work may prove tricky - though of course I could be wrong.

It's probably easier to combine all the hours together to produce a weekly hours figure... so lets say 43 hours per week (up to 45 hours per week). That is more than some full time jobs, which can be 36 hours!

I think your starting figure will be £300 gross per week, which is a little under £7 per hour if calculated on an hourly basis. This is above National Minimum Wage, so that is fine and if you were able to offer the stay-over option on the late nights, then that may make it more attractive to some applicants.

Yes, you need to operate PAYE and deduct Tax and NI from your employees wages, plus you would pay employers NI contributions. As you will be using Ofsted OCR/Surestart CAS, it is vital that you process PAYE, as HMRC will be expecting a payment loop - they give with one hand and take with the other.

If your employer offers Childcare vouchers, those can be used, as there is no specification as to the time of day the childcare has to be provided, same I expect will apply for tax credits.

Will you be working those evenings/days yourself? If so, the cost of childcare could be more than what you are paid, especially taking into account the amount you get paid after you have paid Tax and NI on your gross income.

Have you considered other options, such as a childminder who provides Overnight care? It may work out a lower cost soluition, and you can use tax credits to help offset some of the cost. Alas not many childminders provide overnight care - but you may strike lucky depending on your location.

Nannynick, just wondered which area you are working in where nannys get £10 per hour...? I've just started nannying (13-15 housr a week) and I'm getting £7 per hour which I thought was fairly well paid (I'm in the Midlands)
thanks

(Sorry to hijack!)

Probably London. The person I pay comes in for odd hours now and it's potentially incovenient to her and she's good and been here for a long time so I may pay more than others would.

if your child will be sleeping on those evenings you can usually get sixth formers who will baby sit fairly cheaply. Also it can be quite easy in urban areas to find people and sometimes surprisingly the pay is less than in some country areas where people to clean and mind children cannot be had for love nor money, there are transport difficulties getting to you etc and they may be paid more to reflect that.

I'm on the Surrey / Berkshire border. In my area nanny rates vary quite a bit, especially as some parts of Surrey are nearer to London than others! Remember that all figures are GROSS (before deductions) not NET (take-home).

It can be handy to search nanny recruitment sites plus agency websites, to get a feel for nanny rates in a particular area. Alas not all adverts will give a salary but with luck you will get a guide. Figures quoted on websites may be NET or GROSS so you have to check wording carefully. Big agencies such as Tinies Childcare can be useful to look at, as they often give the wage on adverts.

Buckinghamshire rates could be high in places, found an advert for a part-time job at 10 gross per hour.

Right I've budgeted and basically looking at £7.70 - £8 gross an hour so gonna offer 30 hrs over 3 days.

Will def sort out PAYE, I was gonna get an approved homecarer so I could qualify for tax credits, I'm right in thinking I can do that aren't I?

Yeah I did think of childminder overnights option but think it's too much for the kids to stay somewhere else 3 nights a week.

I work evenings and am a single parent so don't really have any other options I don't think. Unfortunately for me I live in a countryish area and there definately is not as much cheaper childcare available as when I lived in London. Out here 16 yr olds want £6 an hour cash in hand eek!! I'd be skint!!!!

BuninTum..Have you thought about an au pair?

Yes, to use tax credits to help pay towards childcare provided by a nanny (in England), the nanny needs to be an Approved Home Childcarer (either under Ofsted Childcare Register or SureStart Childcare Approval Scheme). However, do not assume you will get payment from tax credits on time, or at the maximum amount. Tax Credits should be able to tell you what amount you can claim, though any changes to your circumstances may change the amount you get. A nanny will want paying regardless of if Tax Credits have transferred the money to you, or not. So try to have a contingency fund, so that if a payment is late, you don't lose your childcare.

Your employer may also offer Childcare Vouchers, and those too can be used to pay an approved home childcarer.

Good luck with your nanny hunt.

My local Children's Information Service (CIS) has started to receive details of approved home childcarers (who are registered with Ofsted). So you may want to give your local CIS a call and ask them about approved home childcarers - they may be able to tell you how many are registered in your area.

Yes I did think of an au pair but I want them police checked, some childcare experience etc and figured I would be paying a similar amount out of my own money to get ann approved homeworker.

Will def try CIS thanks for your advice!