Guest blogs – Nannyjob blog

What’s the difference between ‘gross pay’ and ‘net pay’?

Almost all employment industries in the UK discuss salaries in Gross terms; in the nanny industry, however, this hasn’t always been the case. Some nannies are still paid net salaries, but as an employer, if you agree to a Net salary with your nanny you may be in for a shock when faced with how much employing your nanny is really going to cost…

What is Net Pay?

Net Pay is the ‘Take Home Pay’ that your nanny receives after Tax, National Insurance, and Pension deductions (if applicable). This means you will be liable for paying your nanny’s tax, National Insurance, Pension contributions, as well as any student loans and/ or attachment of earnings order (such as previously unpaid council tax or child maintenance) against your employee on top of their salary. This is where many employers find themselves paying a lot more than they had anticipated.

What is Gross Pay?

Gross Pay includes your nanny’s ‘Take Home Pay’ and your nanny’s tax, National Insurance, and Pension Contributions (if applicable).

What are the benefits of a Gross salary?

For Nanny Employers:

A Gross salary will help you budget better because it includes tax, National Insurance, and pension contributions right from the start.
You won’t be responsible for any unpaid taxes or deductions from the nanny’s previous jobs.
It makes things clearer when dealing with HMRC, who usually only talk in Gross terms.

For Nannies:

A Gross salary provides job stability, since employers know the full cost upfront.
You can take advantage of your tax-free allowance, which usually increases each April.
You can compare your salary with other childcare jobs, since most industries use Gross terms.
It’s easier to show proof of income for things like mortgages or loans because lenders usually want to see Gross income.

So how much does employing a nanny really cost?

The Gross salary doesn’t cover all the costs of employing a nanny. What does cover everything is something called the ‘Total Cost of Employment’.

The Total Cost of Employment is the Gross Salary, plus the Employer’s National Insurance Contributions and the Employer’s Pension Contributions (if applicable).

In other words, a Gross salary accounts for your nanny’s tax, National Insurance, and Pension Contributions, but not your own employer contributions.

How can I work out my Total Cost of Employment?

If you’d like to work out your Total Cost of Employment, you can use Nannytax’s Calculator. Simply enter the Gross or Net salary figure and it will calculate your Total Cost of Employment and some additional helpful breakdowns – easy peasy!

This blog was written by Nannytax, with over 30 years of experience, they are the UK market leader in nanny payroll and nanny employment.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

Compliance

If you’re new to employing a nanny, you might not be aware of all the things you will be responsible for when you become a nanny employer. Let’s talk about them.

My responsibilities as a Nanny Employer

If you’re new to employing a nanny, you might not be aware of all the things you will be responsible for when you become a nanny employer. Let’s talk about them.

Setting up and running payroll

When you become a nanny employer, you will need to register as an employer with HMRC, once you’ve done this you’ll need to set up and run payroll, providing your nanny with weekly or monthly payslips.

If you choose to use a nanny payroll service to run payroll for you, such as Nannytax, you will need to verify all the legal documentation is in place so that they can liaise as your payroll agent with HMRC.

Providing a nanny contract

When you find your new nanny, you will need to provide him/her with an employment contract. This will ensure both you and your nanny have a clear understanding of what is expected during the term of employment.

Reporting to HMRC

You will need to report all of your nanny’s earnings to HMRC if they are earning above the lower earnings limit, which is £120 a week. If your nanny is earning below the lower earnings limit but they have another job or other source of income, their earnings will still need to be reported to HMRC.

Paying your nanny and Tax & National Insurance liabilities

You’ll need to pay your nanny the net amount stated on their payslip each week or month, this is your nanny’s ‘Take Home Pay’ after Tax and National Insurance deductions. You will be responsible for paying any Tax and National Insurance liabilities to HMRC, these are paid either monthly or quarterly depending on the amount.

Pensions

If your nanny is eligible, you will need to enrol them into a workplace pension scheme. Once enrolled into the pension scheme, both you and your nanny will contribute to the pension.

Even if your employee doesn’t want to join or remain in the pension scheme, it is a legal requirement for you to enrol them. Once your nanny is enrolled, he or she may choose to ‘opt out’ if that’s what they wish to do.

Insurance

All UK employers must be insured. There are specialist nanny employer insurance options available to you, such as Enable Insurance. Holding an insurance policy will ensure you are protected if your nanny becomes injured or ill as a result of working for you.

How can Nannytax help?

This may all seem a bit daunting, but when you sign up to Nannytax, we’ll take care of all of this for you! From your initial Nanny PAYE Scheme set up to producing the final P45 when your nanny leaves, when you join Nannytax you can rest assured your nanny’s payroll is in safe hands.

This blog was written by Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with 30 years experience. Discover more about Nannytax here.

Where to take the kids in London Christmas 2023

It’s that time of year again when there’s excitement in the air and our little ones get to experience the magic of Christmas! London is bustling with festivity this year and there’s plenty for you to do with the kids to make this Christmas one to remember…

Christmas Pantomimes

Step into the world of fairy tales with performances of Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and more! London theatres are hosting a variety of magical shows this year – so why not book your tickets and enjoy the whimsical world of storytelling and laughter!

Ice skating

Whether it’s the ice rink at Winter Wonderland, Somerset house, the Natural History, or Battersea Power Station, ice skating is a timeless activity that promises a good time for the whole family. Bundle up and hit the rink for some frosty fun!

Santa’s Grottos

From the iconic Winter Wonderland’s Santaland to the charming set-ups at John Lewis, the London Transport Museum, and the Museum of London Docklands, there are plenty of opportunities for your little ones to share their wishes with Santa!

Christmas Markets

Explore the charming Christmas markets scattered throughout London this year – from Winter by the River at London Bridge to Trafalgar Square, the historic Greenwich Market, Leicester Square, and the Southbank Centre Winter Market, you’ll find everything from handmade crafts to tasty treats. Let the kids take-in the festivities & enjoy the Chrismtasy delights!

Christmas Lights

Journey through the sparkling streets of London and see the festive lights & Christmas decorations illuminating Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, and all around London which are sure to leave your little ones wide-eyed and in awe!

Embrace the magic, share in the joy, and create lasting memories with your little ones this Christmas!

This blog was written by Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with 30 years of experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

Does my nanny need a pension?

The government’s pensions initiative, known as Auto Enrolment, requires all UK employers to automatically enrol any qualifying employees into a workplace pension scheme and make contributions towards that pension. As a UK nanny employer, you will need to enrol your nanny into a pension scheme if he or she qualifies.

Does my nanny qualify for a workplace pension?

If your nanny is aged between 22 years old and the State Pension Age and they earn £10,000 or above per year, then they do qualify for a workplace pension.

What will happen if I don’t offer my nanny a pension scheme?

If your nanny is eligible for a pension scheme and you fail to enrol them into one, or if you fail to pay pension contributions, you can be fined by The Pensions Regulator.

My nanny doesn’t qualify but still wants a pension, what should I do?

Your nanny still has the right to ‘opt in’ and join a pension scheme even if they do not qualify for a workplace pension. It is your responsibility to enrol them into a suitable scheme.

My nanny qualifies for a pension but doesn’t want one, what do I need to do?

It is a legal requirement for you to enrol your nanny into a pension scheme if they qualify for it, even if he or she doesn’t want one. Once your nanny is enrolled into a pension scheme, they can then choose to ‘opt out’ or ‘cease membership’ of the scheme.

If this is the first time you’ve heard about your Auto Enrolment and nanny employer pension duties, don’t worry! Nannytax provides a fully managed workplace pension service for their clients which means the Nannytax team of pension specialists can take this off your hands!

This blog was written by Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with 30 years experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

What interview questions should I ask a nanny?

During a nanny interview, it’s important to get a clear understanding of who the nanny candidate is, if they’ll be a good fit for your family, and how capable they are of fulfilling your requirements.

We suggest you prepare a list of interview questions ahead of the interviews, so that you can cover everything you need to know! Here are some examples of the sort of questions you may want to ask:

Questions specific to the role

What is your approach to meal planning?
What qualities do you look for in a family to decide whether it’s a good fit?
Describe a typical day at work for you.

Questions about their nannying style

What do you think are the qualities needed to be a good nanny?
What is your approach to discipline?
What are your favourite activities to do with children?

Questions about their education and experience

How long have you worked as a nanny?
Do you have any childcare qualifications?
Are you Ofsted-registered?
And it’s good to ask a few personal questions!

Why did you decide to become a nanny?
What are your hobbies?

For more examples of nanny interview questions,click here.

This blog was written by Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with over 25 years experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

Statutory Rights

As a nanny employer, there will be a number of Statutory Payments you may need to pay your nanny over the course of their employment. It’s important that you familiarise yourself with each payment and it’s helpful to be aware of the terminology when employing a nanny!

What is Statutory Pay?

Statutory Sick pay (SSP)

As a nanny employer, if your nanny is absent from work due to ill health, you are responsible for administering Statutory Sick Pay. As of 2015 employers are no longer able to reclaim SSP from the government, so you will need to cover your nanny’s sick pay yourself (the 2023-2024 rate for SSP is £109.40).

Maternity pay

If your nanny becomes pregnant and goes on maternity leave, as her employer you will be responsible for her Statutory Maternity Pay. The pay rate for the first six weeks of maternity leave is 90% of your nanny’s average weekly earnings, the weekly rate for the following 33 weeks is £172.48 or 90% of your nanny’s average weekly earnings – whichever is lower. Statutory Maternity Pay is funded by the Government but you will need to and are responsible for submitting the maternity pay claim, find out more.

Holiday pay

Your nanny is entitled to a legal minimum holiday allowance and to holiday pay, which you are responsible for paying. A full-time employee is entitled to a minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave – this includes the 8 UK bank holidays. You can use the Nannytax holiday entitlement calculator to work out how many days or hours of paid holiday your nanny is entitled to: www.nannytax.co.uk/holiday-calculator

This blog was written by Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with over 25 years experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

Travelling with nanny during summer holidays

School’s out! Summer is finally here and if you’re planning a trip abroad this year, whether you’re planning to take your nanny with you or not, you might be wondering where your nanny fits in…

Holidays with your nanny

I’m not planning to take my nanny on holiday with me, do I still need to pay them?

You may have agreed in your contract to split holiday entitlement, for example 50/50. This would mean that 50% of your nanny’s holiday they can choose when to take it, and the other 50% is for you to decide. In this case, you may have agreed for your nanny to take their holiday whilst you’re away, but you will still need to administer holiday pay.

If you have not agreed to this, and your nanny is not due to take holiday while you are away, you will need to pay your nanny in full as they are available and willing to work.

I’m taking my nanny on holiday with me, will this holiday be deducted from their holiday allowance?

If your nanny is going on holiday with you to provide childcare, they are therefore working, and this won’t affect their holiday allowance. If your nanny ends up working longer hours while on holiday, you may need to compensate your nanny by providing overtime pay or giving them additional time off in lieu.

What should I discuss with my nanny before we go on holiday?

There are a few things you should discuss before you go on holiday with your nanny, this may include…

The rate of pay, some employers may wish to enhance their nanny’s pay and can do so at their discretion.
Accommodation, we recommend that the nanny has a private room in order to give them the appropriate downtime.
Hours of work and days off, we suggest you discuss this in advance of your holiday so you can set expectations and avoid any future disputes.
It’s also worth clarifying details such as whether the nanny will be coming out for day trips with you, will be eating with you, whether or not they’re expected to do chores, etc.

Discussing these things in advance will help you avoid any uncertainty or awkwardness while you’re away!

This blog was written in collaboration with Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with over 25 years experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

What is nanny insurance and do I need it?

Nanny insurance provides financial protection for you, in the event of an incident occurring while you are carrying out your professional duties.

Why do I need nanny insurance?

Nanny insurance is important personal protection for you. Accidents can happen, and this protection means that you have some cover in place should something happen whilst children are in your care.

Nanny insurance encourages a positive working relationship between you and your employer. By taking out an insurance policy, you are showing your employer (or potential employers!) that you have been proactive in putting protection in place. Plus, having a nanny insurance policy is in your employer’s best interest as it means eligible parents can benefit from government support schemes, such as Tax-Free Childcare!
Having insurance enhances your professional status. Nanny insurance is a part of Ofsted registration, and many parents actively look to hire Ofsted registered nannies. So, having nanny insurance could make you more employable and help you to stand out against other candidates!

Where can I get nanny insurance?

Nannyinsure is a specialist nanny public liability insurance that is recognised by Ofsted. Brought to you by Nannytax, who have been supporting nannies in the UK for more than 25 years. You can get Nannyinsure for just £59 (previously £79!) To learn more, click here.

This blog was written in collaboration with Nannytax, the award-winning and UK leading nanny payroll experts with over 25 years experience.

Discover more about Nannytax here.

A sticky end

One of our lovely Nannies messaged over the weekend to tell us how she has been getting on!

I’ve been an au pair with a family in France who since the beginning of September.

This afternoon, my host mother left me with 2 children for an hour and a half after school. The 3 yr. old wanted to have one of his chocolates but instead of just taking one from his sweet bowl, he brought the whole bowl into the living room.

He ate his chocolate and then I popped him in front of Sesame Street (I have about 75 episodes of this on my laptop and he loves it!) while I went to make dinner in the next room, which isn’t even a separate room as there’s just an archway.

I also had the baby girl who has finally learnt to crawl and is now getting into everything, so I was back and forth every few minutes to check she hadn’t found wires or got stuck under a chair (both have happened). Because there isn’t a door it’s hard to keep her contained! I then went back into the kitchen to serve up their dinner and was not out of the living room for any more than 3 minutes! I came back in to tell them that it was time to come and sit up to the table and heard the baby scrunching some plastic. She had her back to me, but when she turned round, I realised what she’d got: a plastic bag that (had) contained some of the chocolates and sweets from the sweet bowl that he had left on the table. I then noticed there was no chocolate in the bag, and that instead, it was all over her face, hands, and clothes. She’d even managed to get it on the bottom of her feet! She was really pleased with herself!

I took the empty sweets packet away (there were just some of the sweets left, one of which she’d clearly chewed on and decided she didn’t like…) and tried to clean up the sticky baby! She’d managed to get it everywhere, including on the glass table and the carpe

I was mid-stripping her clothes off and trying to keep the 3-year-old, who was attempting to hit his little thieving sister, at a distance, when the mother came back. I was there with a semi-naked baby who still had chocolate all around her mouth on my lap and a 3-year-old having a tantrum.

Not the ‘calm and well-organised scene with children happily eating dinner up to the table’ I was aiming for! So embarrassing!

Oops, Kate! We bet you won’t make that mistake again.

Post-holiday light blues

You’ve had two glorious, sun-soaked, weeks, lying in bed until 11am if you want, walking at your own pace, negotiating stairs without a pushchair, eating leisurely meals without having to give anyone else a taste, wearing clothes that would stain if even near playdough and going to the loo in peace…. and now you must go back to work.

You’ve missed the little munchkins. You’ve found yourself singing ‘baa baa black sheep’ as you walk along, you can’t stand still (instead you bob and sway which is perfectly natural with a baby in your arms but makes you look a bit odd without one) and you’re constantly pointing out cows, birds and boats to your slightly bemused family and friends. But still it’s been holiday….and now you must go back to work.

Your charges have also been on holiday. They’ve missed their nanny, but they’ve had the undivided attention of their parents, and grandparents too, with late nights and as much TV and ice cream as they want. It’s a shock to the system all round, compounded by the fact that you are supposed to be Nanny Sunshine while your bosses grouch off on their commute (or skip merrily out the door, pleased to be back in the office).

You unilaterally decide it’s going to be a bit of a lazy day, a slow breakfast, a trip to the park in the morning, a quick to prepare lunch (check the fridge in case there isn’t any food, revise plans for trip to the park and Tesco in the morning), make some cakes for tea and some holiday inspired artwork in afternoon. A quick smile as you compare your plans for the day with the equivalent that’s waiting for your boss, and most of your friends. You have no inbox full of urgent emails, just a full laundry basket, and no great crisis to deal with apart from the nap and/or potty-training regressions, but you’ll have them sorted in no time. You also get cake later.

Together you make exciting plans: swimming, seeing friends, measuring how tall the sunflowers have grown. You notice all the things they’ve learnt to do over the past fortnight, their new words, how tall they’ve grown. They tell you about their holiday, you tell them edited highlights of yours. They ask if they can come with you next year, you laugh. You go and swing, slide and scrabble in the sand. Somehow building a sandcastle is more satisfying in the park with children than it is on a beach without.

You chuck in a load of laundry when you get home and prepare bizarre sandwich fillings that seem more logical to you than some of the food you’ve tasted over the last couple of weeks. You wonder what the 3-year-old would have thought about the chicken and banana curry sandwich you tried and consider finding a recipe just to see, only to conclude you didn’t like it that much. After lunch it’s nap time, but you call it a siesta in an exaggerated Spanish accent to prolong the holiday mood and say you’ll make ‘sangria’ for their snack. Laundry out, laundry in, make list of jobs to do over the next week, look up new activities starting in September, put dinner on, finally succeed in drinking an entire cup of coffee.

The afternoon passes messily: flour, sugar, icing sugar, paint. Tidying up is a shock to the system but a quick bit of improv turns it into a game. You have a quick internal debate about the order of bath and dinner but as dinner involves tomato sauce you decide it’s better to do a quick wipe now and have a slightly sticky dinner than risk having to do bath twice.

You know why you’re lucky to be back at work at the end of the day, when your boss arrives grimy and tired to clean and happy children (and two leftover portions of spag bol because you were feeling generous) and your charges hug you goodbye, frantically reminding you that you promised they could go swimming tomorrow.

You have the best job in the world. You’re a nanny.