The internet has changed the way that parents find nannies. In the past parents would use Nanny Agencies who would in-turn advertise in local newspapers.
Now the internet has made if possible for parents to advertise directly to nannies looking for work. In the UK the most popular nanny recruitment website is NannyJob.co.uk which lists thousands of nanny jobs throughout the UK and even some abroad. NannyJob is used by agencies, so if you want an agency to help with the recruiting, do not be surprised if the agency places an advert on NannyJob. NannyJob charges a listing fee, about £20 at the time of writing.
In some parts of the country, Gumtree.com is a popular way of advertising for a nanny. However it seems to me that this concentrates on Cities, so if you don't live in a city it may not be that good. Gumtree charges in certain locations but not others... so you may find that placing an advert does not cost you anything.
When composing an advert you need to know what is you actually want. Do you want a live-in nanny (a nanny who stays at your home day and night) or a live-out nanny (a nanny who comes to your home each morning and leaves again at the end of the working day)?
Online adverts can often be quite long, so I feel you should give as much information as possible. In particular I feel you should be clear about:
- the working days and hours
- how much you will pay
- what housework duties you expect to be done (such as washing children's clothing, ironing etc)
- as clear as you feel able about your location - for example if in London, state the nearest tube station.
- start date
There are lots more things you can include in an advert, the more the better I feel but I am aware that some parents want to leave things to discuss at the interview.
Saying how much you will pay seems odd to some people. I feel you should give the salary (or a salary range) so that you don't waste your own or other peoples time. If you can only afford to pay £6 per hour, yet applicants want £10 per hour, then it is not worth them applying for your job.
The purpose of your advertisment is to get suitable candidates interested in your job offer. It is not to get everyone interested in working for you - you want the job advert to act as your first line filter... to weed out the unsuitable applicants leaving you with a handful of applicants to interview.
In England, Ofsted are now registering nannies. Many parents are now wanting to use Childcare Vouchers to part-pay a nanny and thus require a nanny who is already Ofsted Registered, or a nanny who meets the criteria and could apply for registration. If you are recruiting in a hurry and need to use Childcare Vouchers, then state in your advertisment that you require the nanny to already be Ofsted Registered (as the registration process can take a few months).
Other places to advertise include local village shops, such as a newsagents. Local newspapers are also an option - though can be expensive compared with internet advertising.
You may want to leave advertising to a Nanny Agency. I will discuss Nanny Agencies in a later post.
The rules for paying a nanny using Childcare Vouchers varies depending on which country you are in... alas it isn't the same throughout the UK. As I nanny in England, I will explain how the Chidcare Voucher system works for parents who employ a nanny in England.
In England, nanny employers who want to pay their nanny using Childcare Vouchers need to get their nanny to register with Ofsted on the Voluntary Part of the Ofsted Childcare Register. You should ask your nanny to read the Guide to Registration on the Ofsted Childcare Register. You nanny will need to meet the minimum requirements for registration, which includes: First Aid Training, Childcare Training, Nanny Insurance plus various other things... see the Guide for details.
The registration process can take several months. Once registered, your nanny will be sent a Registration Certificate which will include a unique identifier.
Your nanny then needs to contact the Childcare Voucher company. Who that is will vary as your employer will have selected a company to administer the scheme for them, or they may even administer the scheme in-house. If both parents are able to use Childcare Vouchers it is quite possible that their employers use different voucher companies, so your nanny will need to register with both voucher companies. Many voucher companies have a form which the nanny completes. That form together with a copy of the Ofsted Registration Certificate are sent to the voucher company, who then issue the nanny with a carer identifier.
Once your nanny has a carer identifier, you can then ask your payroll department to pay part of your salary via childcare vouchers - this is a deduction from salary scheme so can effect pension rights... so do check that the scheme is suitable for you - your HR department / payroll department will have some info available.
Childcare Vouchers can come in a variety of formats... some are physical paper vouchers while others are fully electronic. Some voucher companies require that you Authorise each voucher, others do not.
With paper vouchers, you get given the voucher as part of your pay and give the voucher to your nanny. Your nanny then contacts the voucher company to redeem the voucher - often by phone or via the internet. Then the voucher company processes payment and within a week the payment is in your nannies bank account.
What issues are there with Childcare Vouchers?
The major issue currently with Childcare Vouchers is the time it takes for the voucher companies to redeem the voucher. Therefore you allow ample time (I would suggest 2 weeks) for your nanny to be paid by the voucher company.
Your contract with your nanny will be to pay them on a specific date, typically at the end of the month. You will be in breach of your contract if you do not pay on time. Do not rely on the voucher company to pay on time. Instead the first month you get a childcare voucher, keep it. That month you pay your nanny as usual.
The following month, you can then use that voucher you have, to part-pay your nanny. Payslip wise this is a deduction from the NET Pay figure.
For example, if the NET Pay due figure is £780 and the voucher amount is £243 (this is the typical voucher amount), then you give your nanny the voucher plus £537 - these days you would pay your nanny via BACS directly into their bank account. Many parents use the Internet Banking facility provided by their bank.
It is important that you agree to pay your nanny a Gross salary, either as a monthly or yearly amount. A Gross salary means the amount before deductions for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
Never agree a NET (take home pay) salary with your nanny. It can be very tricky to work out what your nannies real pay is if you agree a NET salary.
In the UK, you deduct Income Tax and NICs from your employees gross monthly pay and send that once every quarter (every 3 months) to HMRC. In addition as the employer you also pay Employers NICs.
There is a great website called ListenToTaxman.com which can help you get an idea of how much it will cost you to employ a nanny. The figures produced by ListenToTaxman.com are accurate but you should never use these figures for filling out PAYE forms. Please use the figures as a guide.
So what you may be wondering is PAYE. Well it is Pay As You Earn. It is the method of tax deduction that is used for all UK employees, as far as I am aware. You can find out further information about PAYE on the HMRC Website: PAYE Intro.
As an employer of a nanny you need to register with HMRC as an employer. They will then send you out a pack with most of the forms you will initially need, plus a CD-ROM (for Windows based PC's) which contains lots of other forms and help in electronic form. The CD-ROM also helps you file online PAYE returns.
If your nanny has come from a previous job, ask them for their P45. If they don't have that for some reason, they need to complete a P46 (which is on the CD-ROM or can be obtained from the HMRC Employers Helpline).
You will then follow procedures in P49 Paying Someone for the First Time. This will set the ball rolling as it were. P49 talks you through doing the first months payroll.
If doing all the payroll gets a bit complicated, or you would prefer someone else to produce payslips for you, then there are various nanny payroll companies who can help you. As a nanny I have found that PAYEforNannies is good.
Since November 2008 the rules regarding Au-Pairs in England have changed. The visa category of Au-Pair no longer exists.
An Au-Pair is now the same as a live-in Mothers Help or live-in unqualified nanny. They are an employee who works and lives at your home.
UK Border Agency says that an Au-Pair, Nanny or Mothers Help can come from the following countries:Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the European Union (EU) but citizens of these countries have the same rights to enter, live in and work in the United Kingdom as EU citizens.Swiss nationals are also permitted.There are special rules for those from Bulgaria / Romainia.There is also Youth Mobility Scheme (Tier 5) which enables those from Australia, Canada & New Zealand to work in the UK (subject to terms of the scheme - Youth Mobility Scheme)
The Childcare Act 2006 defines what is considered to be a relative,18 (8) (c) “relative”, in relation to a child, means a grandparent, aunt, uncle,brother or sister, whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership.Page 19 of HMRC Publication: WTC2 section titled: Childcare Provided By A Relative.Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit cannot be used for childcare provided by a relative, unless that relative is a Registered Childminder who is also looking after other children.HMRC and Ofsted are both aware that relatives are trying to register as childminders only to care for their grandchildren, nephews etc. How they actually check-up on that, I don't know... but I suspect that if when doing a registration inspection or subsequent inspections the Ofsted inspector gets suspicious that the children in the persons care are ONLY relatives, then action maybe taken.
Therefore I feel that NO you cannot ask a relative to register as a Nanny, or as a childminder so that you are able to pay them for providing childcare via the Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit.
