Nanny pay- does this sound about right?

[Haliborange]

We are about to start looking for a new nanny and are thinking about pay.

It will be a part time job, 4 days a week, no late nights. We have two children, one of whom will be at school from Sept so just one child to deal with most of the time. we're in a not terribly flashy part of greater London.

I want to agree a gross rate and am aware of how high employers' NI now is, so was thinking of around £400 gross per week (so my costs around £450pw). This, I think, gives a net of around £320 pw. We're not desperate for anyone mega-experienced. Does that sound about right? I looked at the Nannytax survey which suggested something like £380pw net for full time so it seems in line to me.

Thoughts welcome - or recommendations of potential nannies (or potential shares in N22 for that matter)!

The problem with a 4 day a week nanny is that she will probably want/need to work a full week and trying to get a 1 day a week job is quite tricky. If it is a particularly early finish, say 5pm, then possibly they can supplement with babysitting.

Given current uncertainty about taxes you would be mad not to agree a gross salary. You don't pay employers earning on the first £110pw so your costs will be around £437.

No harm in starting to look at that rate and for those hours and see what happens, but bear in mind that most nannies will need to work full time in order to be able to pay their bills.

How many hours is it? What would typical start / finish times be?

Is it a 40 hour week? I think it sounds fine.

I don't think finding a 4 day a week nanny will be too tricky (it does depend on the hours and the wage for those 4 days). As nannying tends to have longer day than the average job a lot of jobs will be 11 hour days, so 44 hours a week - which is more than an average working week. I know quite a few nannies that like to work a 4 day week and have a 3 day weekend.

The salary is on the lower side for London, so candidates are likely to be those with only a couple of years experience, or coming into nannying from a nursery job.

And, yes, make sure you agree a gross wage so that if she does get/have a 1 day a week job you won't be stung on the tax front.

Hi. We had a part-time Nanny and paid her £320 net salary for 4 days per week. Based in Hertfordshire, she had 7 years Nanny experience.

most nannies i know would kill for a 4 days job

pat seems slightly low forlondon but would suit a newly qual/few years exp nanny

I think you'd find someone with a few of years experience at that pay level - someone in their early twenties with a couple of years sole charge.

Days won't be too long- max total of 39.5 hours. One day I will be working from home which hopefully will make things easier. Possibility fo some babysitting, but this would be paid extra.
Plus we are v v v nice to work for!

A parent working from home makes things harder for a nanny, not easier!

Parent working from home is definitely hard and would put me off (sorry!).

£320 live out for a 4 day week definitely doable though, but you are cutting out more experienced candidates and you may have someone going for their first nanny job or an ex-au pair/mother's help, which is not necessarily a bad thing but definitely something to be aware of.

True, a lot of nannies love 4 day week jobs. We work longer hours then most so I don't think you will have any problems finding someone.

ditto frakk - unless they stay in office all day and dont interfere

I am a non-interfering mother!
I am very hot on not undermining the nanny. Seen too many parents do that and it is unfair to the kids IMO!

Blondes - and even then I think they are lurking around the corner!

I feel you paying on the low side given the location. However I am purely basing that on typical Flat sale prices in my area vs your area - your area being around £45k more expensive for 1 Bed. In my area £10 gross per hour will get you a pretty good live-out nanny, where as I would expect the same in London to be £12+ gross an hour.

However there are probably more nannies looking for work in London, so more potential for finding someone who will accept the wage. There is no point in paying more than you can afford, so work out what you can afford to pay and look at a figure a little below what you can afford so that you have a little cushion to help absorb any Employer NI increases and misc costs.

Looking at Childcare.co.uk there are many nannies looking for work in that area (though not all may still be looking). Not all put how much salary they are looking for, from the ones I've looked at £9-£11 per hour seems to be typical... unclear if that is Net or Gross.

Agree with the others that having a parent work from home can make things harder not easier. Depends on the situation, biggest issue I find with young children is that once the child sees that mummy is home, they want mummy and no one else will do. They do get used to it over time but it can be tricky at first.

Agree that many nannies like a 4-day a week job. It does need to pay enough to cover the nannies living costs etc. Downside to a 4-day a week job is that I don't feel I've had a bank holiday weekend, as I don't work Mondays anyway!

PAYE Calculator - handy for calculating likely payroll costs, such as Employers NI.

Keep in mind that the salary isn't the only cost of a nanny, there are other costs such as activities budget, transport, payroll admin (though you can do it yourself). More info about costs of employing a nanny in this Mumsnet Thread from Dec 2009.

Thanks Nick. Well aware of the extra costs having been properly fleeced on expenses by our first nanny!
You're right that the pay is perhaps at the lower end of normal, but I gather that A LOT of families in the area are being tricky about taxes/paid holidays etc and I am utterly above board so hopefully that will help. And if we got someone decent we could always review in 6 months if things were going well, which is what we did last time to reward our previous lovely nanny.

Would someone switching from working in a nursery be cheaper then? That's kind of odd, surely nursery work is good experience? And they'd be able to demonstrate a commitment to working with children which is always going to be a plus to me.

Will bear in mind that me working from home won't be seen as a positive (although really it is, honest- that day could potentially be v short but without a reduction in pay and I tend to make myself scarce when working).

Although nursery work is good experience which is valued by employers it doesn't provide sole charge experience. In a nursery you always have the back up of other staff and you get regular breaks during the day. A lot of nursery workers will cope fine with the sole charge/lack of breaks/lack of company from other employees, whilst others would find it moredifficult and need a bit more guidance and management.

Nursery work is not particularly well paid - most will not be paid much more than minimum wage. So, if she was earning £6.50 gross at the nursery she will be jumping to around £9-10 gross (in London) for a nanny job

Hm, interesting. Will bear that in mind and ask appropriate questions should I get ex-nursery staff through the door. Thanks.

anything over 30 hrs is considered a full time job. Meaning full entitlement to holidays, sick pay ect.

Most nannies I know would rather work 3 very long days or 4 longish ones than 5 nine til five ones.

Mum at home can be a problem if the children aren't used to having a nanny but I have known it to work out if there is mutual respect between mum and nanny

Just to say - not all nannies are put off by parents working from home. I've had employers at bit due to various circumstances and it honestly doesn't bother me. Didn't realise i was in the minority!

Hi there
We are looking to find a nanny 2 days a week for a 3 yr old and baby ( six months). What do you think we should look to pay. Seems impossible to get an answer!!!!!! We live nr Beaconsfield , Bucks.Thanks

Outside of London pay rates for a live-out nanny are typically £7 to £11 gross per hour, with new nannies starting at the lower rate and experienced nannies wanting towards the higher.
Remember that a nanny working 2 days a week may well have other employment on other days... so vital to agree a Gross salary (see the various discussions on here about Net v Gross salaries).

I would suggest advertising the job at £8-£10 gross per hour. Then see who applies. If you are particularly after someone qualified and experienced, then put that in the job specification and set the salary at £10 gross.