All the boring stuff (tax, vouchers) for nanny's employers as of post-April 2005

[majorstress]

Uwila and others who have very recent experience of the CURRENT situation for small-fry employers-could you please summarise your experiences with Nannypaye.com? I noticed you seemed disatisfied on one thread. Did you use their contract templates at all as well as their tax service? I have looked at their site and the Nannytax.com site too. I noticed that as you say, there is more info on Nannytax.com, for example they have some useful help about how to get your nanny up to the new governement "soft-touch" standard for example regarding courses, which then allows you to use childcare vouchers (I need this info as my nanny is a really just an newly ex-aupair without formal quals in childcare-she is a qualified teacher but I presume that doesn't count-I was pleased to see on nannytax that there is an online course she could do, for example, which I hadn't come across before).

Uwila? anyone? nervous

not much help I'm afraid but we use Nannytax. I struggled for years with getting the payments made on time (it was a fiddly horrible job working out the correct tax to pay based on an agreed net salary so I always put it off). After the third grovelling letter I had to send in to avoid a fine for late submission of end of year forms I decided I had had enough and told my husband he would have to do it in future - so he signed up for Nannytax.

The burden that has been lifted as a result is enormous. We follow their instructions and it all seems to work like clockwork. I think (but can't be certain as it's no longer my task (hooray!)) that we tell them what we want to pay our nanny as take home pay and with what frequency and they do the rest - payslips, tax vouchers etc. We have set up a direct debit to pay the nanny and then write cheques to the Inland Revenue when told to.

I don't know what it costs but given that the fine for late submission is £100 (and I risked this every year) it's been well worth it for us.

Thanks for that!

we didn't use their contract - I used the structure of the one supplied by the agency and then supplemented it with things that seemed sensible based on my and others experience. I also have a separate house rules document for stuff that's not exactly contractual but that I want in writing at the beginning to avoid issues later on - stuff like paying for personal phone calls etc

also, thinking about it, it's a standing order not a direct debit that we've set up

mmm, you are right I think, standing order is better than direct debit. Am sorting it all out now. I have a job description much labored over the last few months, and will do some house rules-though live-out situation seems quite different and a lot of what I wrote seems daft now. I think I have to use an agency for the tax or I will go completely insane (if there is any more scope for that!).

Hiya, we use nannypaye. They are ok. They cost £150/year. And, nanny tax is £250. I love their website. And I'm under the impression that they have more staff (hence faster replies on employment questions). But apart from that, I can't really see that they offer anything that justifies another £100 per year. So, it's nannypaye for us.

I never use either of their contracts. I think I found mine on the internet (from another parent) and then I just tweek it as I go along and learn lessons. For example, my next nanny will have a contract that has a nanny diary as part of the job description -- it just never occurred to me that I would employ somewho thought this was an unresonable request.

If you need help with a contract, feel free to e-mail me. Glad to help.

It is very hard to predict what you have to specify-I carefully stipulated that no more than 1 hour of tv a day, of programmes I had taped for them, was to be watched by the dds-only to find that AP thought that SHE could sit and watch it herself while on duty!!!! Like the GOod Nanny guide says, unprofessional is the norm with many of these people.

Oh yes, maximum 1 hour of telly per day is in my contract now too. Current nanny plops her in front of the telly far more than I had forseen. She even argued with me one day about whether or not DD could watch a certain show which I single out as the one show she can not watch. It's MAx and Ruby. And I do appreciate that no one else regards this show as the evil influence that I think it is. But, the point is nanny was arguing with me about what DD could or could not watch. And now when the show comes on DD says "Ruby!"... oh no, she's not watching that while I'm at work. GRRRR

Ok, rant over... sorry

Sorry this is long, but this is the non-legal responsibility bit that I put in my nanny contract......

Could be used as a basis for appraisals etc, but I never really take it that far.......

EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

The daily activity of the children including:
Arrange and supervise a stimulating and child centred day with age appropriate activities
Provide a safe environment and highlight the potential dangers in and around the home.
Arrange and supervise children activities such as swimming, birthday parties etc
Getting children washed and dressed in the morning
Give children their meals
Administer medication
Drawing
Reading
Organising children for school (bags, lunch etc)
Take the children to and from school
Drop off and pick up children from school
Checking and overseeing homework or reading, if any.
Daily fresh air weather permitting

Preparing and cooking meals for the children including:
Planning menus
Light shopping for fresh produces and supplies for the children?s food
Preparing & cooking meals and stocking up the freezer
Cleaning the kitchen after the children?s meals

Cleaning and maintaining the children?s living areas including:
Washing, ironing and sewing children?s clothes
Keep the children?s bedroom & bathroom clean and tidy
Keep the children?s play area and toys clean and tidy
Hoovering the children?s bedroom and play area regularly
Loading and unloading the dishwasher

ooohh thanks, I will plagiarise that too! Do you have a full time nanny beachyhead?

3 days a week - I used to have this list just as a guide, but I figured it was better to put it in the contract - can't say she does all this - if I had been clever, I would have used it more as a checklist to organise her week around - bit immaterial now as she has been there 2.5 years and will probably be leaving soon.....(I'm going on maternity leave and can't afford her!)..... You could make it a lot more personal to your situation/house as welll....for instance, this morning my nanny called out the RAC for our flat battery and now has gone to Kwik fit to get a new battery for our car, (and she has a 10% discount card which she will use for us) all above the call of duty (still this is the first day when both kids are at school full time, so she is going to have to get used to more house jobs now......)

Well I will make good use of your experience as I am just embarking on yet another type of childcare experience-the live out nanny-I am determined to try everything, I just love the challenge of going broke and juggling it all (NOT). But really, I am going to use it to help organise the week for my new lady-though she seems quite capable of organising things very well so far.

I'm just about to embark on the live in nanny so I'll need your help too!!!!!

Since we are sharing contract bits, here's mine:

Duties

The Employee will be responsible for:
? Care of the children whilst parents work, usually sole charge, including but not limited to:
o Change nappies, bathe them, feed them, put them to bed (ie. for nap time), take them to their scheduled activities (Jo Jingles, Toddler groups, etc.)
o Entertain them as appropriate for their ages (with minimal TV viewing). TV viewing not to exceed one hour per day. Max and Ruby is never to be turned on.
o Educate them as appropriate for their ages
 Teach them a foreign language (if applicable).
 Teach them to eat properly, including both acceptable table manners as well as the importance of a healthful diet. Establish and maintain regular schedule of meal times.
 Establish and maintain regular schedule of naps, as appropriate to their ages.
 Other education as appropriate to their ages and abilities.
o Ensure their safety at all times.
o Inform employer on a regular basis of children?s educational progress (or lack thereof), eating habits (including food likes and dislikes), and daily activities. This includes, but is not limited to, maintaining a daily Nanny Diary.
o Demonstrate an awareness that children learn by example.
o Notify employer as soon as possible if children are unwell. If any medicine is given to children, inform employer immediately and ote accordingly in nanny diary.
? Housework associated with children (keep their room(s) tidy, change bedclothes and changing table cover, empty nappy bin as needed, keep children?s bathroom tidy, etc.)
? Pick up children?s belongings (toys, clothes, dishes, etc.) from around the house and garden and put them away at the end of each day (or encourage the children to do this themselves).
? Laundry, ironing, hanging/folding, and putting away of clothes in their proper place for children?s clothes.
? Keep kitchen clean and tidy, including but not limited to the children?s dishes.
? Occasional babysitting by prior arrangement (and paid additional to the terms of this contract).

Sorry about the (lack of) formatting.

What's max & ruby? I haven't watched any children's telly for a couple of years now since I finished my job with 'big boys'...

it's cartoon on nick jr.

Only Max and Ruby? Inertia kept putting on Ready Steady Cook, to my annoyance, regardless of our written contract about TV (I was upstairs in bed), because SHE wanted it-but my mum noticed the 2 girls riveted one morning by another cookery programme, she explained it to me when DD1 demanded homemade mushroom soup that evening (we never have soup). so they soon developed a taste...
Current nanny disapproves of TV more than me! Yippee! I have gradually come to agree, it has been a big mistake for me to cop out by using tv to babysit while I got one with Very Important Household Chores (like anything could be more important than these kids interacting with their mum for the couple of hours between my getting home and their bedtime?). A lot of those programmes are really violent, and even the good ones are padded around by presenters acting like idiots and adverts for awful products, or, on BBC, for itself.

Yeah, it's the only show I have forbidden and she still watches it. This morning I sort of accidentally (ahem!) loosened the connection at the back of the tv. Nanny came to me at about 7:30 to tell me that there were no voices on the tv, and I just looked at her and said it didn't have time to look at it.... ha ha. Won't be watching Max and Ruby today. He he... I've contemplated this stunt for about a week. Oh what fun.

Nanny won't sort it out herself. She can't even open a Maclaren pram on her own.

go technophiles go! Oh yes and the Maclaren pram test of physical and mental fortitude! This should be compulsory training for all, in high school.

1. Open and close and put away, without putting raincover in any forgettable place=BASIC TRAINING.

2. Allow wet pram and raincover to dry first, then fold and put away; and put on buckles and get through doorways without pinching baby's hand=ADVANCED CERTIFICATE

I have had to show so many helpers and relatives repeatedly how to do this and most never can manage it-but hang on, no one ever showed ME even once!!! I just had to DO it, and keep trying until it worked...every single day, slipped disc or not. I couldn't just leave it in everyone's way at the nursery.

This morning was her 3rd lesson. We have a Mac3 (three wheeler) and a Techno classic. Last week she took the mac 3 on the train because it was warm out and she couldn't figure out how to get the foot muff off of the techno. Snaps = LOW technology on my book. So, rest assured the TV will be way beyond her capability.

that is funny; it's one advantage of having a live in, their weak spots are very quickly apparent! but so are yours....

Has she got another job yet? are you giving her a reference?

Well, she actually resigned. She has a job as a social worker which begins when she leaves me. I was SOOOOOOOO happy when she gave me this news. It saved having to spend a month with someone I had fired (although technically she would have been made redundant). She gave notice to leave 01 May. But as my maternity leave begins 2 weeks later, I asked her to stay on through the 13th and she said she would. It is much more pleasant now. I think because when she does the things that piss me off, I just shrug it off (okay not always, but a lot more than I used to) because I figure, oh well she's leaving anyway so no point in bother to address the issue.

That was my feeling in general-relief that the future is sorted at least for the moment.

That was my feeling in general-relief that the future is sorted at least for the moment.