Help! Considering employing a nanny for the first time.

[purplecurlywurly]

I'm after a bit of advice as considering employing a nanny for the first time. I have three children, 7, 4 and 6 months. The oldest is at school full time and the middle one will go full time form November. I would like to return to work at the end of the year, probably 2-3 days/ week. With the older two it was more cost effective to use nurseries, and when they were older, I had an au pair to help after school/ preschool. I seem to be struggling to find a good child care solution for all three. The local (v good) nurseries have experienced a huge surge in demand and can only offer one day a week from the new year, good childminders are like gold dust and an au pair is obviously unsuitable for a baby and they are also v difficult to recruit as we live in a rural area.
I am therefore considering employing a part time nanny. As a novice, I would really appreciate any good advice on approximate gross pay, usual duties, contracts, registering as an employer, paying nanny tax. It all seems like a minefield! I am also a bit concerned that it is going to cost a large proportion of my salary. Does anyone know how childcare vouchers work and if these can be used for nannies as well as nurseries?
Thank you in advance

Childcare vouchers can be used with a Registered Nanny in England - not all nannies are registered.
You will find a lot of information on this forum about recruiting nannies, taxation, contracts, etc. If you have a specific question, start a new message thread about that specific subject rather than putting lots of questions in one message thread. Hope that makes sense - it means that the advice you get is more focused plus means that people in future will be able to find the information easier.

Very very roughly, a nanny will cost around £90-£120 a day. It can vary from area to area, especially if in/near London.
A nanny working 36 hours a week, being paid £10 gross per hour, would cost you £20,385 a year currently including Employers National Insurance. This excludes lots of other costs, such as payroll admin (if you are not doing it yourself), heating/lighting/food, weekly activities kitty, nanny travel whilst on duty, etc.

Thx a lot nannynick! I was wondering why no one was responding! I will try looking at some of the previous posts initially.

I suspect that may be why you didn't get many responses.

HMRC: Register as an Employer & PAYE Intro
HMRC: Paying Someone For The First Time - I feel this is good to read, even if it is a bit complex. It is made easier for employers with the use of the Employer's CD-ROM, Online forms etc.

I started putting some info together of questions often asked... AskNannyNick

Nanny Contract Questions