Nanny related questions!

[Maisiesaves]

Hello all!

So, after moooonths of trying to find a new nanny for the new academic year, we have found one who has accepted our offer! Now, I just need to tie up a few loose ends before we start things off. Our last Nanny was a Uni student on placement, so although she was paid and everything etc, she wasn't old enough to have pension deductions and her pay wasn't taxable as it came under the threshold. I use a payroll system (Enrol Pay) currently.

1. Is there a better payroll system set up to assist with employing nannies or other household help, that can help calculate necessary deductions? I am already auto-enrolment compliant.

2. What to do about use of car/fuel? We don't drive, but Nanny has car and has all necessary insurance. Do we offer a flat rate for mileage? How is all of that calculated/claimed?? What's a fair rate?

3. What should I be adding to the contract with regards to Covid? Current regs say that if your area goes into a local lockdown, nannies can still travel to your home to work. Do I specify in contract that all care should be taken (washing hands, hand gel, masks etc) or assume that they will follow the guidance/law?? (I ask that only as the nanny seemed slightly anti-masker at interview not thinking the covid situation was as bad as everyone's making it out to be, but said they do wear masks to go in shops etc as you have to, and would comply with anything we asked of them regarding social distancing when out and about etc.) I still need to read the guidance/law further with regards to pay if they have to self-isolate etc as this is a completely new situation for me as an employer!

4. I've stated this is a long-term role to the Nanny. Do I put a contract end date or a date to review after a year perhaps?

5. How best to reimburse our Nanny for ofsted registration? I think it is classed as a perk or bonus or something? Is it just added to the payslip as an added income?

6. What is the best insurance type for hiring a person working in the home? (Slaps wrist for not having any last year)

Thanks in advance. It feels more serious this year as I'm employing an experienced adult as opposed to a Uni student who I was mentoring as part of their placement, so the stakes feel higher. I just want to make sure I am doing everything I should be doing legally as an employer!!

1. I don't know what Enrol Pay is but I guess it is payroll software you have. I would have expected all payroll software to be capable of doing the calculations needed for Gross agreement payroll including auto-enrolment pension. However it may not link to your selected pension scheme provider so you may need to manually submit the pension payment details to the pension scheme provider.

1. Flat rate is up to 45p per mile for first 10,000 miles per year. It is non-taxable and does not have to be reported to HMRC, however it is good practice to have your nanny submit a mileage log so you know the trips being done and the mileage involved. The same trips may be different mileage due to differing routes, roadworks etc.

Thanks, nannynick. Yes, I should probably check the software I am already using! I think because I've not had to use those tools yet, I wasn't sure if it was automatically done or not!!

That is great info about the mileage.

Further question: Last year, I had a wallet with my son's library card, bus pass etc with money for each week for activities. Even tho I won't be wanting them to be going all over the place at this time, most places prefer contactless payments at the moment. Is it worth setting something up for the nanny to use for contactless payments, or have the nanny pay and I reimburse? Or should I see what the Nanny prefers? It would never be anything expensive as it is an after-school job. Again, is this 'kitty' taxable, or not as it's not part of the nanny's pay but expenses for activities she may do with my son?

Thanks again!

3. What should I be adding to the contract with regards to Covid?
   No idea. Government has given nannies and employers of nannies nothing at all in terms of any guidance.
   
   As a nanny I avoid going in shops during my working hours unless it is really necessary, which it was today but has not been so for the past 6 months. So your nanny may not have any need to wear a face covering but I would expect them to do so in any situation that occurs where they should be legally doing so.

4. I've stated this is a long-term role to the Nanny. Do I put a contract end date or a date to review after a year perhaps?

No. It is not a fixed term contract so there should not be an end date in the contract. You could have something about an annual review but I would not write that such that it could imply there would be a
pay rise, or indeed drop in pay.

5. How best to reimburse our Nanny for ofsted registration? I think it is classed as a perk or bonus or something? Is it just added to the payslip as an added income?

Officially I think it is a taxable benefit so would need to go through payroll and be on a P11d. I wouldn't call it a benefit to the nanny though. If it is a taxable benefit will you give the nanny more so they don't lose out on the tax that would be payable?

I would be inclined to consider this a cost just like any other cost that the nanny incurs whilst working for you, so like paying for an activity you just reimburse the actual expense incurred.

6. What is the best insurance type for hiring a person working in the home? (Slaps wrist for not having any last year)

It is usually part of your Home Contents insurance policy. Check your current insurance wording and contact your insurer if you have any questions about what the policy covers.

1. Further question: Is it worth setting something up for the nanny to use for contactless payments, or have the nanny pay and I reimburse?

If you can have some sort of debit card which the nanny can use for expenses then that would be good. The problem is likely to be getting something in their name for which you then pay. A lot of cards are now linked to mobile apps, so not sure how that would work if the nanny was not also the app user.

Probably easier for nanny to use their own card and to log the expense which you then reimburse - you could even pay directly to the same account as the card is on.

is this 'kitty' taxable,
No. It is an expense for activities/equipment/travel which is done as part of the job.

@nannynick, you are the fount of all knowledge. I thank you!

Thank you for your input on the Ofsted registration reimbursement. I do see it as a cost of hiring a nanny, as it is I who benefits from the registration so I shall just reimburse the cost. I just wanted to check that this was an okay thing to do and that I wouldn't be inadvertently breaking the law!!

I daren't admit on here that I don't currently have contents insurance, so that's my job tonight!! Any particular words I should be looking for in the policies?

I do have some more questions which I am hoping you are able to help with!!

8. Chosen nanny wanted to clear up any confusion as to what her advert said regarding pay, and that is she is looking for £11 per hour NET, not gross as I originally thought. Can I do some calculations to work out what the gross would be to lead to £11 net and put that in the contract, as I understand it is better to agree a gross pay, not a net pay!

9. I've just had one of those lightning bolt moments regarding the Ofsted registration. The reason I was looking for an Ofsted registered nanny is because, as a University student, I am entitled to the Childcare Grant as part of my Student Finance Package which is payable via the Childcare Grant Payment Service. (In case you aren't familiar, the childcare provider has an account, I have an account, and I link my child to the provider, who invoice me and I approve the payment and it comes straight out of the grant. The grant exists as numbers on a screen and not as tangible money to me!) Does this change anything in terms of my being an employer/paying wages? I'm hoping I input the numbers as usual for payroll, but the money just comes out of the grant?

10. As I've stated this is a term-time role, is it fair to state in the contract that any holiday pay will relate to periods during the school holidays?

Thanks again!

Not much help but i don't understand why nannys speak in terms of net pay i don't know another industry that does that anymore , but a friend who is a nanny said thats how it is
Did you employ through an agency ? If so could they help or advise on setting anything up

Insurance, talk to your broker to make sure the policy covers having an employee in your home. It is not an unusual thing but can be something removed from the low cost policies.

1. I just would not bother with applicants who insist on wanting Net. I would tell them a gross pay amount and they can decide to take the job or not.

1. This is problematic. I hear from nannies that the Childcare Grant is possible to do but the submitting an invoice is an issue. I'm not exactly sure how that is overcome as it has to be an invoice per child so the more children you have the trickier it may be. You would need to do the PAYE and provide the payslip, then your nanny could create an invoice from that data for the childcare cost... I think you are allowed to use Gross Pay + Employers NI. I don't think you can claim the pension costs but look into any guidance you can find about what Childcare Grant will pay towards. So the invoice is sort of fictional... they are not really invoicing you, they are just getting the system to work if that makes sense. Student Finance needs to fix it really as not all childcare providers are a business providing invoices... they create a system that works for nurseries, childminders but does not work for nannies. Surprise surprise that Government has forgotten about nannies!

10. Yes. Over the years I have had several term time only job roles. It is typical to not allow any holiday to be taken during term time, except in exceptional circumstances - for example I have had time off to attend a relatives funeral.
    Holiday calculation for a term time worker is a little more awkward than for a all year round worker. I would use the 12.07% method, so you are adding on 12.07% of time worked. ACAS I think has some guidance now about using a 12 week average earnings for holiday calculation... could use that but I think it's more complicated than doing 12.07% of time worked. How will payment work with childcare grant... if that is term time only then you may not be able to split salary out over a year. This means someone won't get any pay in August typically.

@Notfeelinggreattoday I've been a nanny for more years than I care to remember now and I have never done Net. I don't understand why some people are still using it. Nanny agencies often now use gross but some say that the nannies do not understand it... which I find really odd as most have had other work in the past which would have been paid via a gross salary (retail, nurseries, no where else would agree a net wage agreement). So I don't buy the argument by some agencies that nannies insist on net wages. Agencies in my view should be educating nannies that gross is what parents will be offering and there are lots of calculators available online if the nanny needs to know what their take home pay is likely to be based on their personal circumstances. Net is bad for employers as it is like writing a blank cheque, so agencies saying to do net I feel is bad of the agency as they are meant to be helping their client (the parents).

@Notfeelinggreattoday

Not much help but i don't understand why nannys speak in terms of net pay i don't know another industry that does that anymore , but a friend who is a nanny said thats how it is Did you employ through an agency ? If so could they help or advise on setting anything up

No, I used childcare.co.uk to find someone. It's such a ballache as my son has special needs, and the school's after school club is not suitable for him atm, and we just have no support network at all, and having no money due to being a student means relying on such help as the childcare grant, as Universal Credit will take my student finance into account as income (and take it off £1 for £1 as opposed to the taper used for 'real' income from employment), but don't class me as working so I can't get the help with childcare costs, even tho that also has to be Ofsted approved!

I'm wondering if I should say something to the nanny as her advert on the website says '£11 per hour (gross)' so to then email and say "I'm not sure it was clear in my profile, as I have recently seen many people make a mistake by not making it clear that £11ph is a net income." But perhaps it is my error for not specifying a salary in my advert?

Childcare.co.uk allows nannies to post the salary they desire as net or gross, so if their profile says gross then that is reasonable for what you thought they wanted. You could simply say: well my budget is for 11 gross so I can offer that, are you interested in the position?
I would also put on your own profile the salary that you are offering so people can rule themselves out from applying.