travel expenses for part-time nanny?

[Maria2007]

Hi, just wanted to ask a question to all you wise MNetters. We have a part-time nanny- 24 hours a week, has been working for us since our DS was 5 months, and we're very happy (he's now 1 year). She asked me recently (very politely & nicely, without demanding this at all) whether I should be paying all or part of her travel expenses.

She uses a greater london weekly travelcard, and uses a bus to get to us & back. She also uses the bus sometimes (not that often) to take DS to local soft-play centres or playgroups. I tend to give her a small amount of pocket money per week for a coffee etc, but I hadn't thought of paying her travel expenses, given that she would have the bus travel card anyway.

What do people usually do? Should I pay part of her weekly bus card? Is that fair? or is it up to her to cover her travel expenses to our place & back?

Why would you pay for her to travel to her normal place of work? Obviously you should pay for expenses during her work day when it involves DS.

Well vinblanc that was my normal reaction (in my mind) when she asked me. Obviously I'm happy to pay for her expenses during work but then again she already has the travel card so uses that to go to & from playgroups. I told her I'd find out what other people do & I'd get back to her. I suppose what I'm asking is- should I be paying part of her travelcard?

If she regularly takes DS out through the day and uses transport then I would say it would be fair to contribute towards her travel card. Ok she has to buy it anyway for commuting to work. But if she didn't have it you would be paying for her work time travel with DS.

If you paid for travel to/from work, I think that is a taxable benefit - any finance people able to confirm that?

Easier in my view not to pay it, as it is up to the employee to get to/from work. You could increase the weekly nanny kitty and not keep tabs on what the money is spent on.

It is better to increase her salary and let her pay her own travel. It keeps everything transparent, and more professional.

Should I ask my nanny-tax agency what's done usually & about the taxable benefit issue? (I'm very bad at these kind of things ). I think it makes sense to give her a slightly bigger nanny kitty every week which could go towards travel, coffee, entrance to playgroups etc.

She should obviously pay for her own commuting costs, but then if she is getting a season pass that allows her to make several journeys a day, then there is some synergy between communting and activities.

Presumably, the cost of activities is lower than her commuting costs, as it is unlikely that she takes your DS out on public transport every day.

I would be inclined to ask her to keep a diary for a month of where she takes DS on this, and then, if you are happy with the activities, to make a small contribution.

Some info from HMRC with regard to employees using a Travelcard for personal and business travel - Travel expenses: general ? travel cards

Nick's link is spot on. She would be in scenario one, so you are not obliged to reimburse her.

so your nanny buys a weekly travel card that costs x amount each week

and then she can travel on any bus/tube etc during that week?

she would be buying that card anyway to travel to you regardless if she uses it during the day - it is the same cost to her?

if the above is correct then i wouldnt pay any money to her as she would be buying that card anyway for her own travel

but if she has a card that has a name that i cant remember (im blonde ) that you use each time and it deducts money off then I would buy a card that she can use during the day/work and she can use her one to get to/from work

Oyster card is the name you can't remember, blonde

thats the one-i was going to call it nectar - but thats sains

I think that even with the oyester card does not make difference because if you use it to go to work then it doesnt matter how many times you use it on the same day, it will only go up to £2.00 for bus rides on the same day. No? I am not sure, someone might confirm this. Or check the oyester website.

Maria, i think she tries to make more money. Absolutely you should NOT pay for her coming to work. For going to activities yes families usually pay the petrol/fares. But i think you live in london don't you? Every area has local groups and parks. Is the bus a must? Maybe once a week if she wants to meet nannies in other areas or go to the zoo etc. But not every day.

We dont pay our nanny travel expenses to get to our house/get home, but we do pay for any expenses she incurs during the working day - so we pay petrol for her driving our car to take the kid's out.

Well she has an oyster; on it she loads (each week) a weekly bus-travel-card which includes buses all around london (in all zones), unlimited journeys. I think she uses this card because it's the most economical way to get around london in general (and to come to us); actually it's the one I use too; and then tube journeys I just use pre-pay (she does the same). Which essentially means that all activities she does with DS (which involve usually 1-2 bus rides a week) are on her bus pass, so she doesn't pay anything extra to what she would already be paying.

I'm reluctant to just say 'no' to her because I really like her & I feel she didn't do this to take advantage or anything, just was wondering since she recently started travelling a bit more with DS (given that he's now 1 & there's more stuff for him to do in toddler groups etc). How can I find a....eeeerrrr, diplomatic, shall I say way to say no?

Oh and by the way, with 24 hours a week nannying, how much of a weekly nanny kitty would you be giving? does 10-15£ sound ok? Maybe I should be more specific about that? (and that might satisfy her)? I say this because so far, whenever she just went for coffee to starbucks or whatever with DS I would just give her 3-4£ each time; should I say 'ok I'll be giving you 10-15£ per week for everything' (including entrance to playgroup- costs 2£- and including some help towards her travel expenses). Does that sound ok?

(By the way weekly bus-travel card costs her 14£ each week).

I wouldn't pay for travel expenses to/from work. But, as you have already pointed out, travel during work is certainly expected. I would look at the whol monthy expenses / package deal on this. For example, I give our full time nanny a greater london bus pass (roughly £55 per month) and £70 per month to spend as she likes. I don't keep tabs on where the £70 is spent. I used to ask for receipts but found I never really could be bothere to look through them so I quit asking for them. You might look at what the bus travel would cost if she didn't have a travel card, add on what would be a reasonable monthy amount for activities and whatever else she spends money on, and just give that lump inot the kitty. But, still give her the freedon to decide where it is spent (if you are happpy to do that).

Kitty - about £5 per day should be fine (though does depend on activity costs). With playgroup costing £2... then £5 for that day sounds fine.

AtheneNoctua: However, the amount she would be paying using the bus WITHOUT the greater london bus pass (which is what she has, only weekly, not monthly) would be much much more compared to what she's saving using the bus pass. Which is why, of course, we all use those passes / travel cards & don't buy individual tickets. If I were to pay her each journey as a single that would come to loads more money which I'm not prepared to pay (just because I think it's not fair; although I'd be happy to give her extra money each week for her to use as she pleases, e.g. coffee, playgroup entrance, muffin etc).

5£ per day: that would come to about 20£ a week. Hmmm, that sounds quite a lot actually given that she rarely goes for coffee with him (about once a week or twice on average I would say) & takes him to playgroup 1-2 times a week). Maybe I'm being a bit mean here? (as in, tight with money). Please tell me if I am!

(By the way, she's being paid a very good salary I think, more than she would in other jobs given that it's her first nannying job. Which I suppose is why I'm a bit reluctant to add more money to what she's already getting)...

When you say 24 hours per week, how many days is that spread over? And how many playgroups / activities are we talking about?

And I just meant you might estimate your share of the bus pass pass and lump it in with the kitty.

It's spread over 4 days. So it's 4 slots of 6 hours. She has started going to 1-2 playgroups each week. They cost 2£ each (so far I pay for those directly). She goes out to a coffee place with him (when it rains) roughly once a week; now in the summer not even that.

OK I think the most logical thing to do is to just give her 15£ all in all each week, extra, for everything. And of course she can use some of that towards her travel expenses.

Incidentally, my £70 per month kitty is for full time, 5 days a week, with two kids. I don't really feel the need to fork out for things like Starbucks. My last nanny told me one day she was taking the kids for tapas for a playdate because they "needed the cultural experience", and I nearly started laughing. This is why I give a set rate per month and let her choose how to spend it (within reason). I'm sure they had a lovely time having tapas... but it was not a needed cultural experience.

Tapas: a needed cultural experience !!!