Self-employed

[CJ6]

Hi all

I would like to ask if any employed nannies are also self employed, or would this be possible to become self-employed?

I have a regular job with a family and ever so often I help out other families that's why I am thinking to go self-employed.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Yes, I have three employed roles (a one day per week job, a two days per week term time job, a 2 days per month job) plus I am self employed for very occasional work, such as a day or a few days, an overnight, evening babysitting, things like that.

Fairly easy to do but keep in mind that you will be paying at least 20% tax on all you earn, so make sure you are charging enough.

You can test it out by using Trading Allowance which lets you earn up to £1000 in a tax year before needing to setup as self employed. Low Incomes Tax Reform Group has good guides on Trading Allowance and on self employment generally. Google: LITRG Trading Allwoance

Great, thank you for your reply nannynick.

I have been told by an agency that nannies can't be self-employed and was very confused.

Does it effect your other employment? I don't really want my boss to know about it that's all.

I guess you don't need to explain what you do when you register as a sole trader Just need to think of a business name.

Most traditional nanny work is employment. A nanny working one day per week 7am-6pm, doing that all year round... that is employment. Casual babysitting though is clearly self employment - you advertise, clients contact you for a one off booking, you do the one off booking and you may or may not get another booking from that client in the future. Each bit of work should be looked it individually to help determine the relationship between those involved - employer:employee or client:provider.

Your boss may see your adverts. Your boss may ask you to do some work outside of your normal contracted hours and you may already have a client booked for that time. I would not hide it from your employer. It should not affect them at all if they stick to the contracted days & hours you have already agreed.

You do not need a business name - you simply use your own name. You do need to say in a few words what it is you are doing... ad-hoc care provider.

Exellent, thank you for explaining it, very helpful information. Much appreciated.

It's just so scary when everyone says different things/different information.

Will ring HMRC and go from there

Many thanks again

Do not ring HMRC. They are extremely busy this time of year. You can do everything online.

www.gov.uk/set-up-sole-trader

Thank you

I looked at being self-employed too, but it means you then need to do some extra checks like dbs maybe ofsted etc. whereas when a family employs you, it’s their responsibility to do the appropriate checks.

I have DBS and OFSTED registered too , thats shouldn't be a problems and I don't advertise as it's work through friends .