Nanny pay

[milkysallgone]

We are totally new to all this and tbh I am feeling very daunted by eveything that seems to be invloved in sorting childcare.

I have been in communication with a Nanny who has said her hourly rate is £8 per hour gross. She would also like to bring her baby to work with her. Firstly - is this a good/bad rate?
Secondly - I was under the impression that the nanny is only interested in her net rate (as we would be responsible for tax contributions etc)?

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Gross is before tax.

You have to pay her tax and NI.

Usually you pay less if they bring their own child with them.

You will need back up if she can't come in because her child is sick or else you will have to have it in her contract that she has to sort out her own childcare for that situation.

depends where in the country you are but £8 gross - even with a baby in tow - is pretty good. in SW london we paid about £10 or £11 for that 3 years ago.

whatever rate you agree (ie whether gross or net) you are responsible for paying the tax and NI - so make sure the nanny understands that if she agrees to £8 gross what she'll actually get will be considerably less (google nanny tax calculator and you should find a web page that will work it out for you). If the nanny says "give me the £8 and I'll sort out the tax" - she can't do this. and it's you - not her - that HMRC will come after

depends a bit on where you are but £8ph gross seems reasonable for a nanny bringing her own child. I would make sure that she understands that it's gross - probably easiest done by confirming the weekly take home. I'm sure she does but it would be awkward and potentially expensive if she didn't.

I assume you've thought through the issues around her bringing her child - there have been threads on this before so if you search the archive I'm sure you'll find them. We did this for one of our nannies and it worked well for us but it is worth thinking through and discussing the issues before you start.

Thank you all this is very useful stuff.

MrsWobble - what's your opinion on the potential pitfalls with nanny's own child?

We are oop north btw

the potential pitfalls are very much a matter of personal preference and also i think depend on the ages of your and her child. When we did it our nanny brought along her toddler, her children were all at school and it worked fine. however, I wouldn't have wanted the house taken over with baby paraphenalia and made it clear from the start that we wouldn't be putting up stairgates or cupboard locks etc and the nanny would need to consider her own child's welfare if she wanted to take the job.

we were also clear that our children would have afterschool activities and her child's routine would need to fit round that - again we were clear up front about that.

we never had a particular issue with illness - her child was never seriously ill and she brought him in with colds etc which was fine with us.

in general you need to work out what you really mind about and make sure you are upfront about it. everything else you need to be more relaxed about. This is true of any nanny employment but i think it has the potential to be more complex and emotionally fractious where another child is involved.

if you have any pfb tendencies then i would think very carefully about this as you'll only make yourself (and probably the nanny and both children) unhappy if you get it wrong.

I'm a nanny with own child up North, and I think £8ph gross is generous compared to what I've been asking! Considering I would have to put my DC with a childminder if I couldn't take her along, I've drastically reduced my rates as it means effectively I get to "nanny share" with myself, which I greatly appreciate.

Or I would, if I could find a job

8gross sounds very fair

just make sure she meant gross and not nett

Hi I'm a nanny with own child and I get £8 per hour nett so £8 per hour gross sounds ok to me, but it all depends on where you live. I work in Buckingham if that helps, but I am also qualified and have great references so that also helps.

Thanks mrswobble, that gives me something to think about.

It;s very helpful getting these opinions as I am pretty much clueless!!

I was going to ask for £8 gross an hour when I started job hunting with my 11mth Ds so I think that's reasonable.

As it happens my new employers suggested £9 per hour as I have 16 years experience and they view me having my own child ( who is 3mths younger than theirs ) as a huge bonus. They seem lovely and I'm very lucky to have found this job.

£8 gross seems fair for the area and with own child.

perhaps rinkadink is near you and you could interview her!!