Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents, and have created this content.
A nanny may have an outstanding student loan when starting work for a parent, this will either be noted on their P45 from previous employment, or HMRC will send a notice through to the parent or the parent’s payroll agent.
Continue reading “Student Loan Advice for Parents & Nannies”
Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents, and have created this content.
If a parent was to make nanny redundant the nanny would be entitled to redundancy pay after 2 years of complete service. The parent should have at least one meeting with the nanny to discuss redundancy and if there are any alternative roles – part-time nanny/housekeeper or going from live-in nanny to live-out. A 4-week trial period at the alternative role must be offered. A nanny can tell the parent that the job is not suitable within these 4-weeks, and this will not affect the nanny’s right to statutory redundancy.
If a nanny unreasonably turns down a suitable alternative to the current job, they may lose the right to statutory redundancy.
If redundancy is the only option, a parent must give the correct notice period and pay: Continue reading “Redundancy Advice for Parents & Nannies”
Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents, and have created this content.
In order to avoid penalties and interest, it is important to make sure you pay HMRC on time for tax, employee and employer national insurance and student loan deductions.
Here is a note of each quarter’s payment and payment deadlines:
Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.
Parents, as an employer of a nanny, you will need to pay HMRC employee and employer Class 1 National Insurance based on your nanny’s wage.
Employee national insurance is deducted from your nanny’s gross salary, whereas employer’s National Insurance is an additional cost on top of your nanny’s gross salary paid by you, the employer.
Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents & nannies and have created this content.
The National Minimum Wage increases from the 1st April 2019 and the new rates are:
Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.
Calling all nannies and parents who employ nannies, do you know how the national minimum wage affects you? Keep reading to find out.
Continue reading “How Does the National Minimum Wage Apply to Nannies?”
Nannyjob.co.uk makes it easy for you to fill all your childcare vacancies, with just a few clicks of your mouse.
With our low-cost package designed with agencies in mind, you can post your latest jobs on our website, where our database of 4000+ childcarers can view and apply to you directly.
Continue reading “How to Find a Job on Nannyjob.co.uk – A Guide for Agencies”
Part time working has been on the rise in all industries but nannies are being hit by a triplewhammy of parents choosing to work part-time, using free help part of the week to reduce childcare costs and taking advantage of Government funding. This means more and more nannies are coming to interview with another job already, which can seem an administrative nightmare. Chin up though, as it’s not that scary!
In our first blog post on the changes proposed by Liz Truss we focused on the changes to ratios. This second part is about the changes which relate to qualifications. To understand this one must first understand that Professor Cathy Nutbrown undertook a review, culminating last year in the report Foundations for Quality which made a number of recommendations. More Great Childcare is, amongst other things, the Governments response to that.
Early Years Educators
Liz Truss proposes a new standard ‘Early Years Educator’ badge for qualifications. As anyone who has looked into gaining a qualification over the last decade, or looked at employing someone, there is a huge array of qualifications, some of which are simply a rebranded NNEB and some of which are barely worth the paper they’re written on. These were all slimmed down the the Diploma for the Children and Young People’s Workforce, which was criticised by Nutbrown’s review for being, amongst other things, too broad. Clarity here would probably be welcomed by everyone.
Early years teachers
More Great Childcare proposes a new status and training course for Early Years Teachers, a postgraduate qualification that will focus on teaching in the early years and have the same entry requirements (including the skills tests) as school teachers, but crucially stops shorts of giving Early Years Teachers the same Qualified Teacher Status that their primary and secondary colleagues have. Given that there is already Early Years Professional Status, which can be taken by professionals working in registered settings, the proposed change doesn’t seem to go much further and is likely to be a source of discontent.
GCSE Maths and English
Nutbrown recommended that all entrants onto an early years qualification hold a level 2, with the reasoning that learners should be ‘confident and capable in their literacy and numeracy’. The Government has interpreted this as a grade C in Maths and English GCSE.
This has been of particular interest to many on our Facebook page. It used to be a requirement of many colleges before entry, and some people seemed unaware that this policy had changed. Others appreciated the need for English to develop children’s communication skills but questioned the need for maths. Still others placed a higher value on aptitude for working with children.
Nannies in particular, who are not obliged to hold any qualifications, are uniquely affected by this recommendation. Parents can order their own priorities when hiring a nanny, but particularly for those with school aged children GCSEs and further educational qualifications are increasingly important. A quick random poll revealed that parents felt academic qualifications combined with a natural affinity for children actually outweighed the need for formal childcare training. What would Nutbrown or Liz Truss say to that?
So how does this link back to ratios?
Professor Nutbrown herself suggested that the Government explore whether qualified teachers could work with more three and four year olds. The Government re-examined ratios in a larger sense and suggested increased ratios possibly based upon:
– Setting based criteria e.g. 70% of staff qualified to level 3; 100% of staff qualified to level 3; 100% of staff to have a C in Maths and English; at least one graduate plus 70% of staff qualified to level 3
– Practitioner based criteria e.g. only staff with a C in English and Maths to operate the higher ratio
There is some sense in the second requirement, although we don’t recall our GCSE (or O-level) certificates giving us extra eyes or arms, in that the paperwork is going to increase by 50% and strong literacy and numeracy skills will be essential to cope with that in a timely manner.
What does this mean for people already working in early years?
If you already have a qualification rest assured, that will be assessed against the criteria in place when they were awarded. If you are working, or wish to work, in a nursery and you don’t meet the literacy and numeracy requirements you may find your prospects limited. If you don’t have a qualification you may find that you need to brush up on your maths or English first.
The biggest changes to childcare in a decade were announced early this week. A report, entitled More Great Childcare, was sent out by Elizabeth Truss MP, the Minister with responsibility for early years. Two major changes were proposed: relaxing the adult:child ratio for childminders and nurseries and setting out new plans for qualifications. This is the first of two blog posts on the report – first we’re going to look at ratios and the second post will be about qualifications.
What are the changes?
For nurseries the ratios will become 1 adult to 4 babies and 1 adult to 6 toddlers with no change to the ratios for pre-schoolers.
Childminders will still be allowed to care for 6 under 8 but routinely 4 under 5, of which 2 can be under 1 instead of 3 under 5, 1 under 1.
There is no change affecting ratios for nannies.
We spoke to Penny Webb, a childminder with 30 years’ experience who starteda petition against the changes. She currently uses the exception granted under EYFS2012 to regularly care for four or five under-5s on grounds of continuity of care.
“I am shattered every day, I am doing more tasks in my own time that used to be able to fit into the working day. I am passionate about childminding – the children will always come first and will always experience outstanding care and education but I know that I can not maintain this level of commitment and this level of effort long term.” Penny Webb, Childminder
She also warns against the impact on children of childminders who rush into caring for too many children at once with little or no experience. Even as a mother of four and with many years of professional experience she has been surprised by how tiring her current workload is.
“I do know people will do it for the money – I also think some will take on more children – with best intentions and then ‘crash and burn’. This will be bad for the children as either will stay with that minder and not have the best experiences – or the minder will be honest and the child will have to go to a different setting – very bad for emotional development.” Penny Webb, Childminder
That’s without even getting started on the lack of space in most homes for 4 under-5s, the difficulties finding triple prams, the cost of a seven-seater and car seats, and the sheer enormity of keeping 4 under-5s safe when out and about. The Minister also shows no sign of allowing OFSTED to slacken their regulatory role, intending to make them the sole authority over childcare settings (the role is currently shared with Local Authorities). This means the paperwork burden on childcarers who are obliged to follow EYFS will go up by 30% for childminders and 50% for nursery staff.
Em, a former nursery worker who is now a nanny, highlighted that current arrangements already impacted to the interaction she was able to have with the children ‘to their disadvantage’. She feels becoming a nanny gave her freedom to really bond with children and follow their interests, and the care the children receive is better for that.
“That kind of ratio would seriously change my mind about nursery work [in the future] especially with the paperwork burden on nursery staff at the moment let alone with more children in their care. It’s insane!” Em, Nanny
Private nurseries in favour of the changes have been accused of only being interested in profit however Sarah Steel, MD of The Old Station nursery points out that any cost saving from relaxed ratios is likely to be eaten up by increasing quality, paying staff a higher wage and subsidising Early Years funding. The most worrying consequence she sees is a potential two-tier system.
“Those in most deprived areas, where nurseries are already struggling to survive, will have to embrace lower ratios, but this may be at the cost of quality.” Sarah Steel, MD, The Old Station Nursery
This is most evident in areas which are supposed to offer funded places for 2 year olds, an age group where the number of children per adult has been increased by 50% and where struggling nurseries may have no choice but to make ends meet by reducing staff costs. Even experts are unsure that more children per adult will lead to a reduction in cost. Eva Lloyd, from the University of East London, said there was no relationship between ratios and cost to parents. She is also sceptical that higher quality will be possible under the proposed changes and it’s easy to see why. The most highly qualified childcarer is physically limited in the number of children they can safely care for or comfort at once. Higher ratios may effectively prevent them from deploying their knowledge and reduce them to refereeing hordes of toddlers. The members of the PLA seem inclined to agree and Laura Henry, an early years consultant but also parent of two boys, posted an impassioned letter on her blog aimed at parents.
Even though the changes proposed don’t mention nannies it would be naïve to assume they won’t somehow be affected. On the one hand it’s good news for the sector – parents who are unhappy about the quality of care offered by local childminders or nurseries may look into a nanny or nanny share. A nanny with 4 under 5 would still be able to dedicate more time to his/her charges because nannies are not required to provide reams of paperwork for OFSTED inspections. On the other hand parents may find it more difficult to find quality candidates. It doesn’t take a GCSE in maths to work out that reducing the required number of adults to care for a roomful of 12 toddlers from 3 to 2 leaves a member of staff without a job. The BAPN expressed concern that the nanny market may become flooded by nursery workers who have been made redundant because they are no longer perceived as fit to work in nursery settings, leaving an entire sector of the market lagging behind in terms of quality.
Many parents are unhappy about the changes. The online parenting forum Mumsnet revealed that only 5% of members surveyed polled in favour of relaxed ratios and Netmums reported a figure of 20% in favour. They may still be faced with an impossible choice, to pay over the average for a provider with low ratio and high quality care or accept lower quality care for lower cost. Parents who are unable to get spaces in settings offering coveted lower ratios may stretch themselves to pay for a nanny until the funded hours kick in at 3 years old, an age group unaffected by the ratio changes.
