Mother’s Help rate of pay?

[Puddleduck2013]

DD is just finishing her A levels and will be taking a gap year.
A local family she vaguely knows approached her to ask if she wanted some work with them, looking after 2 primary school aged children and some light cooking/cleaning.
It was sold to her at £20 ph with expectation she would also drive DC to school and take them to various activities.

She went for the ‘interview’ last week where the role was discussed for about 5 minutes before the woman talked about herself for 3 hours. At the very end she offered DD the job but on minimum wage (with potential to increase after 3 months)

I have alarm bells going off, they have gone through a succession of nannies and if DD is expected to have responsibility of driving children/being responsible for them outside the home her pay should reflect that?

is there anything else DD needs to consider before making a decision.

It is basically a cash in hand babysitting job isn't it there is no intention of NI or tax.

The thing being is that she needs to realise what the law is, because if she takes the job, gets ill, is injured, something happens to one of the children, it's not going to work shrugging and saying she didn't realise/didn't know etc and 'being 18' won't wash either. So, she needs to do the right research, make sure the family is employing her properly, or walk away

Ok so if DD is determined to plough ahead - list of questions for the parents:

sole/lone charge of DC?
how many hours/timings?
school holidays?
Full Insurance on car?
Cash in hand - tax/NI?
what does ‘light cleaning’ entail?

Why is someone your dd vaguely knows, approaching her to ask for childcare??

Agree with pp, au pair you often have parents around, nanny you don’t. It looks like after having had Nannies as pp said they’ve now run out of options. I personally wouldn’t take it just because they’ve run through Nannies in the past. But if your DD wants to take it then just be a listening ear for her.

It’s exploitation https://www.gov.uk/pay-and-work-rights

Probably because they are desperate, no offence to your Dd @Puddleduck2013

Agree with this too, why? When I did childcare for friends I knew and had done a study on toddler for GCSE childcare and baby sat him and his baby brother so knew them well.

I’d recommend avoiding - plus I am not sure she would have insurance cover at 18 to drive children? That’s a big responsibility. Most nannies with driving responsibilities have to be over 25 (or at least they used to be). I would encourage her to look elsewhere.

You have no idea the irony around this - let’s just say the mum works in a field that should know better

You could point out it's illegal and won't legally count as experience. She will not get her NI paid. And she could be in trouble with HMRC as well.

When exactly will she get to use the gym membership if she is working all day every day until late, when the parents come home? How many hours will she get paid for if she is just part of the family? Not a good way to start her working life really. And the responsibility is huge taking full responsibility for other people's children, are they well behaved or will they lead her a merry dance? She should at least do a St John's ambulance course for the basics of first aid and rescusitation.

I was a mother's help.

No looking after the (feral) children on my own! Just helped the mother, literally!

This has liability red flags all over it. Changing goalposts, vague structure, no adherence to employment law, no set times and absent parents or very present parents away from home.

What if there's an accident? What if the DH is a lech? This happened in one min wage job I had and it's really awkward to navigate as a young person.

Imagine an inquest, how would this situation be described?

@Puddleduck2013 even more reason to walk away if mum is a professional in some field related to the other post, because your DD is going to face real challenges. It sounds like the parents have exhausted their proper options (no offence to your DD) and for this reason I'd tell DD to be extremely careful, it's not a first job no experience situation

No. That is just a pathway to exploitation.

My ex and I both worked in London when ours were primary age and for childcare which involved potential late returns home, drops and picks and ferrying to activities - we’d expect at to pay £20 at LEAST and adding cooking, cleaning etc means the rate should be even higher as that is housekeeper territory.

Biggest red flags:- going through many previous nannies, not seeking references / checks like driving licence (not that your DD has anything to hide but responsible parents would check this I think, no clear job description which defines responsibilities, hours, travel requirements etc.

I think if she is interested in this type of work she needs to start with babysitting at first to gain experience after doing a first aid course, then go from there.

What about disciplining the children?

The tax issue is just completely illegal. She would be an employee. She needs to be on a payroll.

No employee status means no sick pay, no holiday pay, no way to assure the minimum wage.

If the employer does not/cannot pay and HMRC know she knew that PAYE was not being operated they will transfer the tax debt to your daughter.

Would she have use of the family car or would she be expected to use her own? If her own car, she would need to be paid a fair fuel and running costs allowance.
It all sounds far too uncertain to me. I had a similar job for a while and was told I would be part of the family...I think my employer was desperate at the time and was just buttering me up! Also the mention of gym membership and holidays sounds far too vague, the employer needs to give a clear breakdown of what the job actually rather than suggesting perks that may or may not materialise.

She would use a spare family car - a massive RR!

That sounds even worse. Massive responsibility.

Mother's help is usually less taking care of the children and more light housework!

If she wants to work as a nanny during her year out there are ways to do this, either through online agencies or au pairing abroad.

I did childcare and the children were left with me by myself, but only for a morning or afternoon. And in their home.

Suggest you both look at nannytax.co.uk or similar to get an overview of normal pay rates and legal requirements.

If she goes on holiday with them when would she be allowed to take her paid annual leave?

Meh I did this at uni at 19 in London for £10 an hour. Three primary aged children pick up from two different schools, taking them to clubs, cooking dinner and bath and bed and then 12 hour days in the holidays. Made lots of money and had a great time with the kids and made a career of it. I think she should go for it

Apart from all the other real red flags, is this going to deviate her from getting a proper job or an apprenticeship and moving forward in her life? Is childcare a job sector she is interested in? It sounds very lonely too if it's just her and the kids.

Make sure they are going to ensure her for work purposes on that, I can only imagine what insurance for an 18 year old on a range rover would be. If they can get it at all, you're looking at £5k+