yours2share helps you to find the right family with whom to share a nanny.
Sharing a nanny has many benefits, but it only works if the two families are a good match. |
If you want to share a nanny, we strongly advise you to concentrate as
hard on finding the right family as you will on finding the right nanny.
Here are some links that might help
you to find your nanny
|
Here are some helpful hints for nanny sharing:
|
| How does nanny sharing work? top
|
You can share a nanny is several ways:
- Total: all the children are looked after together, five days a week
- Part time: children are looked after together for two or three days
a week
- Half and half: children are looked after separately - half the time
with one family and half the time with the other
- Lead family: one family employs a nanny full time and shares with
another family for part of the week
The share can alternate between the children's houses on a daily or
weekly basis, or always be at one family's house. Parents who work at
home usually prefer their children to be based away from home.
|
| What
are the benefits of sharing a nanny? top
|
- Nanny shares cut costs.
- Sharing a nanny provide playmates for your children,
which is particularly good if you have just one child.
- Even the most robust nannies are sometimes sick.
If the nanny is sick you can often cooperate with the other family to
get through the illness, perhaps taking one day off each.
- Sharing nannies can lead to a great long term relationship and friendship with the other parents and their children.
|
| How
do I find the right family? top
|
- Choose the other family carefully and look for similar parenting
values, education and behaviour. You are looking for parents that
insist upon similar standards of behaviour from their children as
you do from yours. This is absolutely vital.
- You need to live close together.
- The price has to be right for both families.
- The times you need the nanny must be compatible, see how does nanny sharing work.
- Be absolutely straight and honest in your requirements right from
the start. If your child has special needs, food allergies, private
lessons that have to be attended, or any other specific requirement
or issue, raise it right at the beginning and discuss how to find
a solution.
- To make a nanny share work, both families need to feel that they
are getting not only a good deal, but also an equal deal. Both sides
need to tell the other about issues and listen to each other for it
to be a success.
- Avoid pulling the nanny in two different directions; working for
two families is more demanding for the nanny than working for one
family. Involve the nanny in discussions about logistics and the split
of time and responsibilities.
- If you find the right family who already have a nanny that they want to share,
then make the same checks about the nanny, including references, that you would if you were on your own
and don't take the other family's word for anything.
- Finding the right family can take a while: you may have
many criteria for a good fit. But keep looking and you should find
a match.
|
| How
much does sharing a nanny cost? top
|
Nanny's pay varies depending upon whether the nanny
lives in or out, location and experience. Nannies looking after children
from two families expect more pay than a nanny looking after the children
from one family.
Here is a broad indication of the gross pay (including tax and NI) that is expected by nannies looking after one family:
- Greater London, live-out between £375 and £600 a week, live-in between £350 and £500 a week.
- South east and the home counties, live-out between £350-480 a week, live-in between £250-425 a week.
- Rest of the UK, live-out between £290-450 a week and live-in between £270-400 a week
You will also have to pay employer's NI contributions.
Work out how the nanny will split their time and then work out how to
split the costs. You also need to consider:
- If the nanny is living in with one family take this into consideration,
and any other perks (such as a car (or use of a car), mobile phone
costs)
- Do you want to set a rate of pay for overtime?
- Is babysitting time built into the financial arrangement?
- How will you divide the nanny's tax and NI contributions?
If you employ a nanny, you are legally bound to:
- Deduct the correct amount of PAYE tax from your employee's
pay
- Work out how much National Insurance Contributions (NICs) you as an employer and your employee have to pay
- Keep a record of your employee's pay, tax and NIC
- Pay (monthly or quarterly) the total tax and NICs to the Inland Revenue Accounts Office
There are specialist services that can help you manage your nanny's tax such as
Taxing Nannies.
|
| Where
does the nanny live? top |
Nanny shares generally work on a live-out basis unless one family decides to have the nanny living in and the other family pays half the wages and tax and contributes to the host family's costs.
|
| Is there a limit on how many families can share a nanny? top
|
Yes, a nanny can only look after children from up to two families.
If a nanny takes on children from three families or more they have to be registered as a childminder.
|
| What
documentation do I need? top |
Each family needs a contract of employment with the
nanny. The contract of employment should also cover any subsequent children:
without this the original contract will be broken if you have further
children. We also recommend a simple employee sharing agreement between
the two employers. This should state:
- how the employee's working hours are apportioned, and precisely how the nanny sharing works
- what other tasks the nanny does, such as washing and ironing the children's clothes
- how holidays are synchronised,
does the nanny have to take holidays at the same times as one or both families and if so,
does this mean the nanny has any flexibility in their holiday dates?
- what happens when the nanny is ill
- what happens when the children are ill, you may need several causes of action for different types/lengths of illness
- how issues are communicated and resolved between the families and with the nanny
- what happens if one family wants to withdraw from the arrangement.
Here is a good explanation of how shared nannies are taxed by Taxing Nannies.
|
Version 1.0 October 2006 |
