I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts/advice things I may not have thought about, before I jump in and later regret it.
My current situation is I work locally in retail/hospitality. 17/18hours a week across two shifts. I don't need to earn loads, but with the rising costs of living I do need to earn something to supplement my husbands wage as the main breadwinner. I earn just under £11k PA.
The plus points of my job- its v local, ten min walk away, close to kids' school etc. I have minimal childcare costs, no commuting costs etc. I get on very well with my deputy manager who is lovely and supportive and has become a friend. It used to be a job where the actual tasks of the job were mundane and often physically tiring- but the team worked well together and my previous manager was brilliant and really supported us (she left in May), so it was actually quite a nice 'little job' to have to supplement family income.
The minus points - Head office are trying to cut costs and have cut staff hours by 25% compared to last year. In practice that means we are down a member of staff each day which means it's manic pretty much all day. Very stressful trying to get everything done, and customers get annoyed at the queues etc and often take it out on us, which is very demoralising as we are doing our best. It is absolutely knackering, a 9 hour shift on your feet bar one 20 min break where you need to eat/have a wee etc. We are constantly being asked to do more with less and the metrics of measuring the shop's success have recently changed and it feels like it's setting us up to fail. Our new manager is nice enough but is very much Team Themselves, rather than supporting the team as a whole. Morale is at an all time low and every single member of staff is looking for another job. I now dread going into work, it will be even worse if our current staff leave.
I have been looking elsewhere, made some applications and had one interview but no luck yet. Partly this is caused by having to be quite picky due to my husband's role where his hours change every 12w, and 3x per week he is out 630am-8pm, so trying to co-ordinate re childcare isn't easy. We live fairly rurally and after school childcare is limited, and holiday clubs only run 930-3pm. So whilst it isn't impossible, I need to be sure I am not jumping from the fire to the pan, in terms of a job that is workable for our family.
A family member knows the situation with work and that I am looking for something else. They are recently widowed and are planning on downsizing their family home of over 25 years. They are struggling with all the organising and admin involved.
They asked if I would consider becoming their personal PA for the next few months to help with everything. They said they were flexible with timings, how I wanted to organise how I approached things- whether it was set days/hours at my convenience or getting on with things as and when it suited me, and happy to be flexible around school hours/ill children etc. They said they could afford to pay me a similar amount to what I earn doing 18hrs currently, the actual hours they need me will probably be slightly less. Originally they said they could pay me cash in hand if I liked.
I explained that actually I don't earn enough to hit the £12750 threshold for paying tax, but I do earn enough that I get NI credits so actually cash in hand was probably a disadvantage to me (aside from the moral issues of S.E being paid cash in hand).
I am certain that trying to set it up as them as an employer wouldn't be viable. I have had a bit of a google and think I can declare earnings to HMRC as self employed. I think I meet the conditions in terms of setting my own hours, using my own equipment - eg computer, phone, car.
I think I can choose to pay voluntary NI contributions so I don't lose out there. Although I am a bit confused as they are voluntary and seem to be at two separate levels- either £3.50pw or £17.75pw.
This isn't likely to be a long term arrangement. Most likely 3-6m. They said finding a different job that would suit my needs should be my priority, and if I found something sooner they would encourage me to take it, they just thought the arrangement could be mutually beneficial in the short term- they get the help they need now, and I can leave my current job where I am unhappy immediately and can keep job hunting, whilst continuing to have money coming in and also flexibility around existing commitments.
So I am thinking I can do this by the book, declaring income to HMRC and paying my own NI. This would mean I was protected in terms of pension later on (if it still exists then!). I think by issuing invoices and having it all recorded officially I wouldn't get bitten later on eg in terms of HMRC claiming the money was a gift for IHT purposes.
Is there anything else I should consider?
Thank you