Nanny Pay and General Questions

[AnnaOD]

We're in the process of employing a nanny for the first time and I wanted to sound people out about pay. We live in Harrow, and will be employing someone to look after our triplet daughters Monday to Wednesday, 10 hours a day, starting in September (when they will be 18 months old). Does £9ph net sound reasonable? Also, has anyone out there used PAYEfornannies and are they happy with the service?

I would agree a gross wage rather than net. Pay sounds fine to me though - have you found a nanny already or are you still interviewing?

Found someone via nannyjob. Amazingly she was the first person we met! Fantastic references, great with the girls, we really clicked. She's paid net for her current jobs, and although I can see the advantage of agreeing gross she seems to be used to being paid net and would like to keep things that way.

So is £9 net what she's after?

Most nannies do seem to get paid net (in London at least) but I think that's changing. It's a much better situation for you from a tax point of view if you agree gross. Could you have a gross salary in the contract and then convert it to net for her as a guide?

Please do seriously consider wording the contract such that it is GROSS salary. You may not be the main job, so you may need to deduct Employees Tax without the personal allowance.
Up to you though, PAYEforNannies will be able to sort out the payments regardless of if you agree Gross or Net.

PAYEforNannies seems really quite good - I get my payslips well in time and my boss is very happy with them.

PAYE Calculator - £9 net is £11.26 Gross based on 647L taxcode... or £12.46 Gross based on BR taxcode.

Harrow is inside the M25 so £11-£12 gross per hour sounds about right.

Lots of bank holidays fall on a Monday so make sure you have thought about what will happen with regard to those... perfectly acceptable for you to require them to be taken as annual leave. Holiday entitlement would be 16.8 days (probably best to round up to 17 days). Holiday Entitlement Calculator

Find out what she is planning on doing on the other two days. How any other income is treated could have a significant impact on what you pay including tax. I used these and they were great.

Convert the £9 net to a gross salary, and offer her the gross. Otherwise you will be responsible fot covering any changes in tax, which are likely to go up and not down.

I don't think it's the norm to pay net anymore. I find "net" is often a code word for "cash in hand". For example:

me: How much do you pay her?
person x: 300 per week net.
me: Bet you can't wait for full time school to reduce that tax bill?
person x: erm... we just pay cash actully.

That's not net, that's cash in hand!

Yep, that's the real world of work. Cash in hand is not the real world of work. No one gets to agree a "net" salary with their employer. I wish we could, but we can't. So, why should nannies be any different?

I think for triplets, I would charge for £10ph net.

My rate would be depending on the work, not the area and I think looking after triplets would be a lot of hard work and I would charge according to that and I like to think at least the amount I'm getting is worth my afford.

I agree with everyone else who says agree gross. You just present her with the calculations to show that £x gross = £9 net on the condition you are her main employer and then write the gross figure into the contract.

Most nannies, I find, don't understand PAYE, tax/NI/net wage and how it stacks up. They do get it when it's spelt out for them, though. All it takes is point out that £gross = £net + £tax + £NI and she will still end up with the same amount of money each week.

Hi Anna

How are you and the girls?

Sorry I haven't been in touch, work is so unbelievably busy at the moment.... I am turning away so many families at the moment because I can't keep up with the work load.

I really would love to pop over to see you all but am about to go away for a very much earnt holiday.

Can I call you mid June when we get back?

Did you suggest the rate of £9 net or did the nanny?

It is fine to agree to a net amount but make sure that the contact gives gross figures as the norm.

It will keep things easier if she gets another job on the other days and if her tax code changes.

Paula - we'd LOVE to see you. Give us a call anytime and pop over. The girls have changed quite a lot since last August! Still sleeping through the night. You trained them well!

The nanny we're speaking to suggested £9-£10 net. Still negotiating; we've now offered £9.50 net plus 5 weeks paid holidays. Once it's agreed I'll broach putting the gross amount in the contract.

Thanks for the advice everyone.