When you first start looking at hiring a nanny, it can be pretty daunting. There’s a lot of information for you to take in and actually remember and alongside this, quite a few legal obligations. This may come as a shock to you, as I know it did to a lot of families when I was interviewing with them. Essentially, you are becoming – albeit a very small one – your very own business, with quite a big responsibility; you’re officially an employer!

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This may or may not be a whole new world for you, nevertheless, I’ve chopped this information up into bite size pieces for you. If you decide to register with us, you’ll be sent a PDF document with more in depth information.

 

 

The things you’ll be responsible for when you employ a nanny are;

 

LEGAL OBLIGATIONS:

Paying your nanny’s tax, national insurance, supplying them with monthly pay slips and ensuring your household insurance policy covers you for employers and public liability insurance.

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PENSIONS:

Since 2010, it is now a legal requirement for every UK employer to provide a workplace pension for their employees, automatically enrol their workers into that qualifying pension scheme, and contribute to that pension. All employers must provide a pension scheme, even if they have only one employee.

 

HOLIDAY PAY:

No matter which form of childcare you choose, you’ll need to plan in advance for holidays. It’ll get to a time where your nanny takes a well-deserved break, where little people don’t follow them to the loo. The current legal minimum paid annual leave for a nanny is 5.6 weeks, which equates to 28 days paid holiday.

 

STATUTORY SICK PAY (SSP):

Ohhhh the dreaded sick days. If your nanny is sick, chances are they will be feeling doubly terrible, not only being unwell, but letting you and your children down too. You don’t have to pay your nanny until their 4th consecutive day off. On this day, statutory sick pay kicks in at £95 per week.

 

MATERNITY PAY (SMP):

It should come as no surprise that when the time is right, your nanny may want to have children of her own. It is an undeniable fact that many young women follow a career in childcare as they have a genuine love for and desire to care for children.

If your nanny has been employed by you for at least 26 weeks before the notification week, which is 15 weeks before the baby’s due date, then she is entitled to claim statutory maternity pay. Your nanny will be entitled to claim the first 6 weeks at 90% of her full pay and a further 33 weeks at the current SMP rate all of which will be reimbursed back to you by HMRC.

 

REDUNDANCY:

This might feel like forever away, but it’s good to be aware that if your nanny completes 2 or more years of service, redundancy pay will be due.

 

 

 

Other things to consider are:

NANNIES AND SELF EMPLOYMENT:

Unfortunately, having a self-employed nanny isn’t an option, even if a nanny suggests paying her own tax and national insurance herself.

 

#GO GROSS:

ALWAYS discuss your nanny’s wages in gross. Only recently, have nannies campaigned to be treated the same as every other employee in the country, receiving the same rights and entitlements. Nannies are often inclined - after years of misinformation cemented- to want to agree their net salary. The drawback to agreeing a fixed net wage is that the amount of tax & NIC added onto the net wage to bring it to a gross format is all subject to change.

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TAX-FREE CHILDCARE:

Now, we all know employing a nanny can be a big financial strain on the family. The brilliant Government-backed Tax-Free Childcare scheme essentially gives eligible families 20% off childcare costs. Your Nanny has to be OFSTED registered and signed up with Tax-Free Childcare to be able to receive payments from you.

 

     OFSTED REGISTRATION:

In order to be eligible for tax-free childcare, your nanny must be OFSTED registered. The application fee is £103 and must be paid yearly. The registration can take anything from 4 weeks right up to six months and there are various applicant requirements.                                                

 

 

NANNY MATTERS PAYROLL COMPANY:

At Real Nannies we strive to make life simpler and understand that dealing with HMRC can often be frustrating and unproductive. That’s why we have teamed up with the brilliant Nanny Matters payroll company, experts in the field since 2002, who take care of everything nanny tax; including all dealings with HMRC, employment contract templates, nanny salaries, wage pay slips, pension schemes and all round great tax related advice.

 

For an annual fee of £240, you’ll benefit from huge range of:

Unlimited advice for you and your nanny

 

Head over www.nannymatters.co.uk for further information from the experts themselves.