Do I have to think about redundancy pay for nanny?

[elliott]

I have a nanny who now does one pick up from school per week and occasional holiday days. I'm thinking about giving her notice in the next few months, once I am happy that we have enough cover from after school club to allow us to cope without her day.

We've employed her for about 18 months now, and I was just reading another thread about redundancy and it made me wonder whether I am going to have to pay her redundancy? And if so, how much?

She will be entitled to redundancy pay if she's been with you 2 years, have a read here about redundancy pay and how it's calculated. It will probably be 2 weeks pay plus her notice. You also need to follow a proper procedure.

Presumably if I give her enough notice I don't need to pay that as well? (will likely give her several months notice).
And, if I end her employment before 2 years is up then I don't need to pay anything? (although 2 weeks is not too burdensome).

That's right, you need to give her enough notice, so if you do that in plenty of time before it happens you'll only have to pay the 2 weeks. It isn't a huge amount you're right, and will only apply if she's employed 2 years.

I've looked at that website (thanks for the link!) but most of it is utterly irrelevant to the nanny employer and I can't actually work out what the 'correct procedure' would be. Would it not be enough to just write to her in plenty of time?

hmm, well I was thinking of finishing either at the end of feb (just short of 2 yrs) or at easter (just more than). Shouldn't really be swayed by the odd £100 I suppose - in reality it would probably mean that she would get the SRP instead of a similar sized leaving 'bonus'.

Not sure how it's irrelevant because it's a nanny you are employing rather than a secretary or factory worker, might seem so because it's a website aimed at employees, but the law is the same.

In terms of legal procedure, you need to write to her outlining the reasons you are considering dismissing her, (which it sounds are pretty clear cut), and inviting her to a meeting to discuss it. You need to make sure she is aware of her legal right to be accompanied at that meeting by a union rep if she wants to be, and then you need to confirm in writing the dismissal by reason of redundancy after that meeting. You must also give her the right to appeal your decision.

All that sounds very formal but actually boiled down to letter, meeting, appeal, it's not that burdensome especially in a situation where it's clear cut and you are giving plenty of notice and are presumably on good terms.

if has been with you for over 2 years you will have to pay redundancy

think max is 330 a week , or up to how much you earn, so in your nannies case it would be a days wages times 2

redundaancy is the law, so shouldnt be mixed up with a bonus iykwim

Ah, yes, I've managed to locate the relevant paragraph (which doesn't mention union reps):

'Under the standard procedure, you must write to each employee setting out why you are thinking of making them redundant and inviting them to a meeting to discuss the proposed dismissal. The employee has the right to appeal if you still decide to make them redundant.

If you fail to follow the procedure when it applies, any dismissals you make will be automatically unfair.'

Most of it is about choosing employees for redundancy, offering alternative employment etc which obviously doesn't apply. Well, of course I could avoid the redundancy by not making use of the after school club, but surely they don't mean that?

Yes, legally SRP and bonus are not the same, but in practice, if I don't pay SRP I would probably still give her some money at the end, but I woudln't give it her twice iyswim! (but I guess they would be taxed differently).

With just one employee, selection for redundancy isn't really an issue - you can't select anyone else.
Once you have decided when you will no longer be requiring them to work, write them a letter stating that they are being made redundant and that you wish to have a discussion.
At the discussion... tell them verbally that they are being made redundant and lay out the terms... such as redundancy pay. They can then appeal it at that time if they so wish and you can conclude the same outcome.
Write to them formally stating the last day of employment, and details regarding amount of redundancy pay. This letter can then be used to claim Job Seekers Allowance, should they wish to do so.
For calculating redundancy pay, a weeks pay is the average weekly pay over the 12 weeks prior to doing the calculation. The redundancy pay element (up to £30,000) of the final pay packet is not taxed.
If they have not taken all their holiday entitlement, calculate amount outstanding and pay that (that part will be taxed as per usual). HMRC Guidance: Redundancy

Thanks nannynick. I'd forgotten about holiday pay too!
gosh its all so bureaucratic. In practice its not goign to affect her too much as she has another job for the other 4 days...I'm just a bit of a top up!