Hiring a nanny - costs?

pinkshoes

Does anyone employ a nanny to look after their kids?

I'm hoping to return to work in September and will need to find childcare for my twins. I was planning on using the nursery my son went to, as they offer term time only contracts (making it just about affordable) but they have no places until April 2017 at the moment!

Child minders are not an option as the hourly rate is the same as the nursery, plus they want a 50% holiday retainer fee, which would make it unaffordable. I would then still have to pay after school and breakfast club for DS1.

How much do nannies charge? Would I then have to pay their pension and national insurance on top of the hourly rate? Do they also charge school holiday retainer fees? (I'm a teacher so do not need school holiday care).

I don't think an au pair is an option either, as we would have to buy and insure a third car for them as we are in a rural location that is about to have its bus service axed!

Guest101

It depends on area and supply and demand.


It also depends on how the nanny operate, if they have their own company and contracted to provide you a service you don't need to pay anything other than the invoice. (an agency would be the same)

nobodyspecial

I would think the biggest problem you'll face will be getting an agency with nannies prepared to travel out to rural areas. You will be unlikely to find an independent professional nanny who will be prepared to have school holidays as unpaid down time. You get paid during school holidays presumably, so you'll be looking to employ nannies from an agency which could mean lots of changes of personnel. An agency nanny's fees will encompass pension and national insurance etc they won't come in addition to the hourly rate.

LilElvis

Worth a note that a lot of nannies ask for a certain amount per week net, so you would need to gross it up for tax and employees NIC and then add the employers NIC on top, plus pension. It can be very, very expensive! I did the grossing up calculation for several co-workers who employed nannies (and then did their monthly payroll calculations for them), but the kicker was telling them how much of their gross salary went to pay the nanny. In one case a nanny looking after 2 children for 11 hours a day cost well over £40k of the mother's gross pay.

pinkshoes

Yikes! It is looking like my career will be put on hold until the twins turn 3!

I live in the South East so an expensive area!

DigForVictory

Nannies are expensive, so are twins, plus living in the South East.

Frankly, I'd nail those spaces at nursery and plan to stay home til everyone's ready to move up a step.

Whilst figuring out how to sort the finances, stay sane & possibly even "take a sabbatical" to "develop extra skills" like Research and Problem Solving, Time Management, Organizational Skills, Communication, Collaboration, Teaching, Supervising, & Managing People - you many need to word it a bit carefully, but ye gods you will be able to squelch the just-out-of-university competition!

Keep reading the OS boards to see how to make every penny squeak & you can add financial management skills to the revised cv...

Plan to enjoy your young family!

Nicki

I live in London and employ a nanny and it is eye wateringly expensive because you have to pay out of your taxed income a wage which is enough for someone else to live on in the same area, plus tax national insurance employers insurance and from October also 1% of their gross salary into a pension, rising to 2% and then 3% over the following 2 years. I am a lawyer and some weeks if there has been a lot of overtime at work (for which I don't get paid but have to pay my nanny obviously) she's earned more than I have.

I can't imagine you'll get a real nanny who would agree term time only unless you paid her during the off time (like a TA gets their salary paid in 12 instalments even though only on term time contracts). Otherwise how would they pay their way for those 12 weeks?

If you were thinking of hiring a nanny through an agency you also pay an agency fee for each placement which is a % of the salary usually, so hiring a new nanny every September and sacking her in July also wouldn't make financial sense and would also be really unfair!

Personally I'd look for a mum with school age children who doesn't work and lives locally who would be suitable to look after your twins when her own kids are at school and be glad not to have them in the school holidays. But she'd still need to be paid with tax NI and insurance in the normal way and pension if she qualifies for it, even though she doesn't have a nanny qualification . And she'd have to look after them in your home not hers otherwise she'd be a childminder and would need to be registered as such.

jackyann

I sympathise, this is such a difficult situation.

Can I just add some clarity about "au pairs"? These were traditionally unqualified young people who helped out in return for learning English + board. They should never be left in sole charge of young children for any length of time. Although the definition has become elastic (and neither "au pair" nor "nanny" is a protected title), it is not on the whole, a good idea, to leave very young children in the care of someone who is neither experienced nor qualified for more than a few hours.

Look on your local council's website (or the Daycare Trust) for specific rules.

I agree with Digforvictory that you (and your family) may well be happier if you sit back for awhile, enjoy the children, and let work / career take a back seat.

Depending on your job, I would certainly consider talking to your employer.
For instance: I lived in an area where one of the major insurance companies was a big employer. Their staff were allowed 3 years off work, guaranteed job to return to, in return for doing 4 weeks "locum" work a year (which could usually be managed) - though this was some years ago!
You could also consider some agency work if you have a family member who could cover the odd day or week.

I took time off when my kids were pre-school, for a variety of reasons (and indeed some years ago). I did some voluntary work around them (playgroup committee, that sort of thing) and when I returned to work, I put everything I had done in my CV under skill headings.

PS: have just realised that you have mentioned "term time contracts" making me assume you work in some sort of education setting? I would definitely consider putting yourself on supply / bank and ask family members to cover the odd day or week for you - or even a few hours. I spent a year doing 2 hours a week teaching a specific aspect of child care at my local college - it was all helpful.