London Treasure Hunt – Days Out for Children

Posted on April 21, 2013 by nannynick

Two mums, Francesca and Margie have spent many hours showing their children the sights and hidden treasures of the city in which they live, London. Together with illustrator Sam, they have produced guide books aimed at children to help parents and carers keep children occupied during the school holidays.

Clear text makes these guides easy for children and adults to read.

Clear text makes these guides easy for children to read.

If you care for toddlers, then these guide books can be used any day, perhaps just incorporating a small part of the treasure trail, perhaps including a bus ride.

Many of the places visited during the treasure hunt (guide books can be dull, but making it a treasure hunt makes it fun) are free to visit. For the cost of a travelcard, you could take the children in your care on a trip around parts of London finding things that may interest them, such as Baby Tempo, an elephant who is the tour guide in first guide book – The London Treasure Trail.

Guide book for children - Day out in London

Click to see a sample page

The guide helps you find great picnic spots, free to use toilets, plus learn about historic places and people. Knowing where toilets are is very handy when you are visiting places with children.

The text in the guides is a great size for older children to read, so they can be the tour guide. Start to finish each book covers a walking distance of around 3 miles and can be done in 5 hours at a leisurely pace with frequent breaks. The London Treasure Trail includes two bus trips.  Down by the Thames is a walk from Tower Hill underground station to Charing Cross.  The London Lion Hunt is a walk from Westminster underground station to Leicester Square.  Each guide book is a 32 page A5 sized booklet which is a good size for carrying, and contains full colour illustrations and simple maps.

The guide books can be brought direct from the publisher for £5 each, plus postage via their website.

Have you taken any of the children you nanny on a day out around part of London?   What are your tips for making it a great day?

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UK Budget 2013 – Does the new employment allowance apply to employing a nanny?

Posted on March 23, 2013 by nannynick

In the Budget there was an announcement about Employers NI relief – article from Telegraph.

One question parents who employ a nanny are asking is, will that deduction in Employer NI apply to them.

To be honest, I have no idea.  I do not think that anyone really knows yet as the fine details have not been published, if indeed the Government has looked at the fine details yet.

It is a relief for businesses.  Parents employing a nanny are not running a business, they are a small employer.  It is a difference.  A business is taxed on it’s profits.  An employer of a nanny just pays Employers NI and deducts Income Tax and Employee NI from their employee.

I suspect it will depend on how the Government words things… will it apply to all employers, or just businesses and charities?    We will have to wait for the fine details to be ironed out before we know if this Employer NI rebate will apply to all employers, or just some.

 

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Cost of a Full Time Nanny (50 hours) from April 2013

Posted on March 23, 2013 by nannynick

Q.  How Much Does A 5 Day Per Week Nanny Cost?  

A.  Outside of a major city, I feel cost would typically be as follows:

Working Hours: 8am-6pm

Nannies Gross Salary:  £10 Gross per hour
If you are city based, then you could easily be adding another 20%, especially if in London.

This I feel is a reasonable amount to assume for the nannies salary during 2013.  The actual salary may well vary between applicants and on the level of experience you wish someone to have.  Market forces have an affect and at the moment there are a lot of people looking for jobs, thus the salary level I am suggesting is a little lower than it was last year.  Decide how much YOU feel you are able to pay the nanny. If you are not in a position to offer £10 Gross per hour then you can advertise at a lower rate and see who applies.  You must comply with National Minimum Wage legislation… in the UK, National Minimum Wage for someone aged 21+ is currently £6.19 per hour.

If it is the nannies first job, such as moving on from working in a nursery or having left college, then you may find they will accept a lower salary.   This is I feel in part due to the nurseries not paying staff that well (typically in my area a full-time nursery nurse is paid around £14,000 per year for a 40 hour week).  So you may find they would accept around £7 gross per hour initially, then expect more as they gain experience of working sole charge.


The Calculations for a nanny, 5 Days a Week:

Nannies Salary: £10 Gross per hour

Number of hours per week: 50

Nannies Salary per Week: £500 Gross – £26,071 Gross per Year

Employers National Insurance: £ 2535   2013/14 tax year   (calculation by MrAnchovy’s PAYE Calculator )

Nanny Payroll:  You can do this yourself or you can get a lot of a assistance from a Nanny Payroll Company such as PAYEforNannies who my employer has been successfully using for many years now.   The cost of having a payroll company is around £115 a year.  The payroll company will produce payslips and tell you when and how much to transfer to HMRC in terms of the deductions (Employee Tax, Employee NI) as well as your Employers NI.

Weekly Expenses Kitty (for activities/outings):  £5 per day, you may find the cost increases during school holidays.  The more children you have the higher the activity cost may need to be – perhaps consider £2.50 per day, per child.   Based on a 48 week working year, nanny working 5 days per week, £5 x 48 weeks x 5 days= £1200 total.

Nannies Travelling Costs Whilst On Duty:   If your nanny uses their own car, then employers would usually reimburse the cost at £0.45 per mile (this is known as the Approved Mileage Rate).  Employers can negotiate with their employee to pay less than this, though you should take into account your nannies costs of providing a car, car seats,  suitable motor insurance to include transporting children for whom they care (this can be arranged through Morton Michel and other insurance brokers)

How many miles your nanny would do will vary.   Consider the usual mileage they would do to take children to school and back, to get to toddler group, other outings.    I would say that I do an average of 3000 miles a year (nannying 4 days per week in a semi-rural location).    Start recording the mileage you do in your car during the week, you may be quite surprised how quickly the mileage adds up even if you are just going to the local shops, library, playground, woods, PYO farm etc.

For a 5 day per week nanny I suggest factoring in at least 120 miles a week… so  £54 per week, £2592 per year (48 weeks).

While your nanny is on duty, you give them food and drink. Nannies don’t really get a lunch hour, can’t leave your children home alone. So food is seen as a sort of perk in compensation for working without a break. How much does that add to your weekly food budget… I’m not sure. Nanny will eat with the children, so eat the same thing. If nanny wants something different, I feel nanny should be buying that themselves. So increase in food bill, extra £3 a day maybe? Heating/Light will also be used more as nanny is around during some of the day, so another few pounds. If comparing with a childminder/nursery, lights wouldn’t be on at your home, heating may also be set low.  If comparing with you staying at home, then there won’t really be much of a difference at all.    There is also some additional wear and tear on the property.  Shall we lump all these types of cost together… say £8 per working day. Suppose you could include cost of Employers Insurance in that (it is usually part of your home contents cover, check your policy).  So 5 days x £8 = £40.  48 weeks x £40 = £1920

Total Cost of Employing a Nanny For Five Days Per Week

£26,071  gross salary,  Employers NI £2535,  Nanny Payroll £115,  Activity Kitty £1200,  Mileage £2592,  Food/Drink/Heat/Light/Misc. £1920

Grand Total: £34,433

The total cost of employing a nanny for 5 days a week will vary depending on your situation.  I hope the calculations above help you consider many of the costs involved.

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Unofficial Guide to Nanny Ofsted Registration 2013

Posted on January 12, 2013 by nannynick

This is an Unofficial guide for nannies registering on the Ofsted childcare register, written by myself based on things I have found out over the years of being registered as a Home Childcarer (Nanny) on the Childcare Register.    This was last updated on: 12-Jan-2013
Ofsted have an official guide on their website.

In England, nannies can optionally register with Ofsted so that parents are able to use Childcare Vouchers or Tax Credits as a payment method.   I recommend that you apply Online, as the paper based form is 47 pages long!

Online Application: Use Ofsted Online.  You will need a Government Gateway ID, if you do not have one then you can create that by following the instructions on the Ofsted website.

Manual Application: (Print all 47 pages)
Download CR1 which can be found at Ofsted | Application Forms For The Childcare Register and print it out in Black on good quality White paper. The forms will be scanned by Ofsted, so the ink needs to be Black and the paper needs to withstand being posted and put through a scanner. 80gsm or higher paper weight should be fine.
Use a BLACK ball point pen to complete the form. DO NOT use any other colour, it must be BLACK.
You must print all 47 pages and return all the pages in the correct order to Ofsted.
It is therefore suggested that you complete the application using the Online System if you are able to do so.

The Application Form

Looking at Form CR1 (for this I am using the manual form.  The online version will be similar, though there could be some changes – if you notice any changes, do please send me an e-mail so I can update this guide)

So starting to complete the Application Form, you would select:

A1 – Home Childcarer
A2 – Voluntary
A3 – Give details as appropriate.

Complete all of Section B, excluding B13.

In B1:

If you have worked in a nursery, pre-school or other childcare setting which Ofsted regulates, then you may already be known about by Ofsted, so tick Yes to that question.

If form CR2 enclosed?  Tick NO.  A CR2 form is used to notify Ofsted about staff members/assistants, as a nanny you are registering in your own right thus need to complete the CR1 (the form you are completing) and no additional forms.

You are an Individual.

Leave the rest of B1 blank and continue to B2 onwards where you give your name and address details.   Remember to include any middle names you have.

B11 If you are live in, then it’s YES. If live out answer No.

B13 Ignore as this is not relevant for nannies.

Ignore Section C, D

E1 – Leave Blank
E2 – Is the address at which you will be nannying. You can enter multiple addresses. You can leave this blank – but must inform Ofsted of the address once you start your job and whenever you change your job or if your employer moves house.
E3 – Private Individual
E4 – Yes,
E5 – Yes,
E6 – No,
E7 – No,
E8 ignore
E9 – No
E10 Weekday All Day or including Weekends depending on your working situation.
E11 – All Year Round (unless it’s a term time only, or holiday only job in which case tick the appropriate box).
E12 – tick the appropriate boxes.  If you are not working for a family at this stage, then tick most of the boxes, if not all of them.

Ignore E13 and E14

Complete all of Section F. Ignore Section G
Complete Section H, where it says All Providers, or if it says Home Childcarer
Complete sections I and J.

For Section H, the following may be of help

Nannies must ensure that children are kept safe from harm.
Requirement Ref: CR1.1

This means that you need to remember that you are responsible for the children’s safety at all times while you are working.
Nannies must ensure that they have an appropriate first aid qualification.
Requirement Ref: CR1.2

This means that you must have had First Aid training. Ofsted does not specify a minimum course length for Home Childcarers, though Childminders have to do a 12-hour course.  Therefore if it’s your first time doing a first aid course, I suggest you do a 12 hour course.  If you have done many course in the past, a refresher course may be sufficient, though do check it covers all the requirements which can be found in Annex A of Ofsted: Guide to Registration. St John Ambulance run a course titled Early Years First Aid which meets Ofsted’s requirements.

Nannies should obtain written permission to give children medication.    Ofsted Factsheet: Giving Medication to Children in Registered Childcare.  Whilst some Home Childcarer’s could be exempt it depends to a large extent on exactly the nature of the work.  Given that many nanny insurers want there to be signed permission, I feel it is best that I advise that you have a permission form for giving the children in your care medication.   If you are in a nannyshare, you should have a  separate permission form for each family.  I have created an example permission form which you can use:  Download Example Permission Form for 2012/13 Academic Year

Nannies must ensure that they do not use corporal punishment.
Requirement Ref: CR1.4

This means that you must not smack, or shake a child in your care.
Nannies must ensure that they are present on the premises at all times when childcare is being provided.
Requirement Ref: CR1.6

This means that you must never leave a child at home alone.
There is now an additional tick box on this, though I am not fully sure as to why there is another box.  I think it is to cover the rare occasion when Ofsted may give prior approval to enable you to leave a child with another suitable person.  This I feel is unlikely to occur when nannying, more likely to be for childminders.

Nannies must not smoke, or consume or be under the influence of drugs (including medication that may have an adverse effect on their ability to provide childcare) or alcohol while providing childcare.
Requirement Ref: CR1.9

This means that if you are a smoker, you must not smoke at any time whilst you are working. Get help to quit smoking. You must also not take any illegal drugs, or consume alcohol. You also need to make sure that if you do consume alcohol during your evening social time, that you are not still under the influence of that alcohol when you start work the following morning. If you are on any prescription or over-the-counter medication, you need to make sure that it does not effect your ability to do your job.

Nannies will supervise children whilst providing care
Requirement Ref: CR1.10

This simply means that you realise that you are responsible for the children whilst they are in your care.

Nannies must ensure they are familiar with issues of child protection and procedures to safeguard children from abuse or neglect.
Requirement Ref: CR2.2

This means that you need to know about Signs of Abuse and local procedures for reporting child abuse concerns. Contact your local Families Information Service for details of Safeguarding Children training courses for childcare workers. Many councils provide access to an online e-learning package, so you can learn about Safeguarding Children at your own pace, at a time convenient to you.

I will have effective systems to ensure that I, or any person who is in regular contact with children:
- is suitable to work with children which must include obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check
- is of integrity and good character
- has skills and experience suitable for the work
- is physically and mentally fit for the work.
Requirement Ref: CR3

This is a more recent addition to the form… I think it is putting some emphasis on you making sure that you remain fit to do the job, from both a suitability point of view and also from a physically capable view point.

Nannies must have successfully completed a qualification at a minimum of level 2 in an area of work relevant to childcare, or training in the core skills as set out in the document ‘common core of skills and knowledge for the children’s workforce’.
Requirement Ref: CR4.2

This means that you need to have some kind of childcare training. At present it is unclear as to which training courses are acceptable, though the Children’s Workforce Development Council are developing a list of qualifications.  Education.gov.uk Qualification Search

I will advise parents/guardians/carers of any health and safety risks.
Requirement Ref: CR5.6

If you notice something at your place at work which is a health and safety risk to you or the children, then discuss it with your employer.

Nannies must ensure that children’s behaviour is managed in a suitable manner.
Requirement Ref: CR6.2

You should discuss with your employer with regard to how you should manage the children’s behaviour.

Nannies must ensure that where older and younger children are together, the behaviour of children over the age of eight years does not have a negative effect on the younger children.
Requirement Ref: CR6.3

This means that if you care for children over 8 years old, you need to manage their behaviour such that younger children in your care are not adversily effected.  This could simply mean stopping an older child deliberately hurting a younger sibling.

Nannies must ensure that the childcare is accessible and inclusive by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of each child, relating to their childcare, are met.
Requirement Ref: CR6.4

This means that you need to treat each child as an individual and meet each child’s individual childcare needs.

Nannies must ensure that the childcare is accessible and inclusive by not refusing to provide childcare or treat any child less favourably than another child by reason of the child’s: race | religion | home language | family background | gender | disability and/or learning difficulty, taking all reasonable steps to ensure children with disabilities have access to the premises.
Requirement Ref: CR6.5

This means that you should not discrimate against a child. I am not sure how Ofsted expect nannies to comply with this fully, as a nanny can not make sure a families home is suitable for a disabled child, when the family concerned does not have a disabled child. Therefore I feel it should be assumed that Ofsted just want you to be aware of disabilities and discrimination.

Nannies must make the following information available to parents: information about the registration system for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register, Ofsted’s address.
Requirement Ref: CR9.3

This means that you should give parents details about the Ofsted Childcare Register. Information for parents and carers using childcare services PDF from the Ofsted website. Also you should make sure that parents know how they can contact Ofsted: 0300 123 1231  OfstedAddress: Ofsted, Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester, M1 2WD

Nannies must inform Ofsted of changes of circumstances as soon as they can (no later than 14 days after the change occurs).
Requirement Ref: CR10

This means that you need to keep Ofsted informed of major changes, such as if you change job, change your own contact details.

Nannies must inform Ofsted of the following: a change to the address of the premises where they are providing childcare or a change in the type of childcare they provide.
Requirement Ref: CR11

This means that if you change job, you need to tell Ofsted, or if the family you work for moves home and you continue working for them at the new home.  I feel it is unlikely that you will change the type of care provided, though if you stop being a nanny do notify Ofsted.

Nannies must inform Ofsted of the following: any change to their name, address or telephone number,  any significant event which is likely to affect their suitability.
Requirement Ref: CR12.1

This means that if you get married and thus change your name, notify Ofsted. If you change your name for another reason, notify Ofsted. If you move home or change your contact phone number, notify Ofsted. If you are convicted of a crime, notify Ofsted.

Matters affecting the welfare of children
Requirement Ref: CR13

While you are providng childcare, if any of the following occur you need to contact Ofsted.
Food poisoning affecting two or more children in your care.
Serious accident or injury, or death of a child in your care. Serious accident/injury in this case I feel is any that requires hospital admission.
Serious accident/injury, or death of any other person on the premises.
Any allegation of serious harm to, or abuse of, a child committed by any person looking after children at the premises. I feel this means that if you are accused of abusing or harming a child in your care, you need to notify Ofsted with regard to that allegation.

If any of those things occurs when you are not providing care, then as far as I can see you don’t need to inform Ofsted.  However perhaps it’s best to look at the individual situation and decide if it’s something the regulator would want to be made aware, keeping in mind that the regulator is interested in things that relate to the quality of care you provide.

Nannies must be covered by their own insurance in respect of liability which would be incurred for death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss.
Requirement Ref: CR14.1

Nanny insurance is available from a number of providers. The most popular insurer of nannies in the UK seems to me to be Morton Michel.   Check with them that the policy will cover your work – there are restrictions, such a maximum number of children in your care.    You should pay for this insurance, not your employer – the insurance covers you, not them.

Employers have separate Employers liability insurance which is often part of their home insurance (though recently I’ve been told that the Co-Op don’t include it in one of the policies – so parents should check policy wording to confirm they have Employers liability insurance).

Nannies must show the certificate of registration to a parent on request.
Requirement Ref: CR15.2

This means that if a parent who employs you asks to see your registration certificate, that you must show them your registration certificate.

Section I – Complete All.

Remember that if you are completing the paper form rather than the online system, you will need to send ALL 47 sheets of paper to Ofsted, in the correct order – sheet 1 at top.  Your application can be rejected if it is missing ANY of the pages (including blank pages) as it will not go through the scanner correctly.

Ofsted does seem to change this form from time to time, so if you notice any changes, especially when using the Online System, please do drop me an e-mail to let me know what you found was different.   Many thanks, NannyNick.

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Digital Magazine For Nannies

Posted on October 18, 2012 by nannynick

Home Childcarer is a new magazine for nannies and childminders.  It is available in digital (uses Adobe Flash) form free of charge or as a print publication (via paid subscription).

For many years Nursery World magazine has had the occasional Nanny dedicated section but it isn’t until Home Childcarer magazine that nannies have a magazine that they could call their own.    The magazine is being targeted at nannies and childminders as both provide care in the home enviornment and so are doing a lot of things the same.

Here are some of what the Sept/Oct issue of Home Childcarer includes:

News round-up - Including Childminder Chat and Nanny Natter
Samantha Beere - Morton Michel partner talks about the decision of the insurance broker to launch Home Childcarer
UKCMA - The newly launched association outlines its ambitions and advises readers on what to do when Ofsted calls
BAPN - The Association for Professional Nannies has focused much of its recent effort on the provision of CPD for its members
Creative Steps - The popular magazine lends us ideas for children to learn from creative play
Safeguarding and welfare - Independent consultant Shelagh Willis explains the latest requirements
Products - Take a peek at the latest products launched into your market
Healthy eating - Rainbow Fairy Natasha Gavin is revolutionising childrens’ eating habits in west London
Bailey’s Blog - Clare Bailey recreates the Olympics for her north west charges

Did I mention it’s free to view online… what are you waiting for, do take a look.

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What is the procedure for renewing my Ofsted nanny registration?

Posted on August 26, 2012 by nannynick

My registration with Ofsted as a Home Childcarer (what Ofsted use to call people who provide childcare in the home of the child, such as nanny) is due for renewal in September.  So earlier this month I received an invoice in the post from Ofsted.   Ofsted send this out around a month before the renewal date of your registration.

The invoice was sent to my home address, which as a live-out nanny is different to the address at which I work.  So if you are due to renew your registration, expect the invoice to be delivered to your home address which Ofsted hold on file.  It is important that if you move home that you let Ofsted know, in the same way that you have to tell them if you change the address at which you work.

As my employer uses Childcare Vouchers from Edenred (formally Accord), I was getting reminder e-mails from Edenred that my Ofsted registration was soon to expire, so I knew to expect the invoice from Ofsted.

Paying the invoice is easy to do, it can be paid over the phone using a credit or debit card (in your own name), via BACS, via Bank Giro Credit, sending a cheque, or paying Online.   They also offer a Direct Debit scheme.

If your employer uses childcare vouchers, the voucher company (Edenred in my case) requires evidence that you have paid your Ofsted registration fee.  They can be fussy about what form that evidence takes, though this year I found that Edenred were happy to accept a PDF of the online receipt produced by the Ofsted Online Payments system.

If you pay using Ofsted Online Payments, then when you get to the confirmation page where it gives you the payment reference number, print out the page.  If you use Google Chrome you can print the page directly to PDF, thus storing it on your computer meaning you can easily e-mail it to the voucher company.   Once you go past that payment page you can’t get back to it, so it is important to print out the page at the time.

I would NOT suggest that you set up Direct Debit for this kind of payment, as it is not known how the voucher companies would get any evidence that you had paid.  You could e-mail Ofsted I suppose and ask them to send evidence of payment but I feel it’s easier if you do it yourself by paying online using the Ofsted Payments system and printing out/saving the payment receipt.

The current fee (2012) is £103 for registration as a Home Childcarer.

 

 

 

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Show Me A Farm – Big Pink Tongues book

Posted on August 26, 2012 by nannynick

This week I was sent a copy of Big Pink Tongues.  So I took it to work and read it as our Breakfast Book (that is, a book I read whilst the children eat breakfast with the aim being that the children stay at table long enough to eat all their breakfast).

Picture of a newborn calf and accompanying text.

The toddler (nearly age 2) loved the book.  She likes animals and has learnt to say cow.  So a book full of cow pictures she thought was great.    The 4 year old was not so keen, though I did get the impression he was listening to the story.

The book has a nice glossy cover, is 21cm wide x 14.5cm tall, making it nice to hold and the story is about 21 page in length.  At first I thought the story length was on the long side but on subsequent readings it seems to be about the right length for a nearly 2 year old to remain interested and I expect would hold the attention of older children interested in farms and animals.  Certainly the nearly 2 year old I nanny loved the book.

The full colour photos in the book are lovely and show close-up’s of calfs and cows in the barn and in the field.  The story follows a cow called Mrs Irwin who gives birth to calf called Cha-cha.  It links in with video clips and a DVD (Where They Milk Cows) about why we have cows on farms and shows parts of the milking process.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghox1Y9dVLY]

If you are ever near Hayling Island on the south coast of England, you can visit the farm tea room at Northney Farm.

 

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Paying for Parking at Work

Posted on August 19, 2012 by nannynick

As a nanny I work in a small village where I can park near my place of work for free.

Not everyone is so lucky to get free parking, some nannies work in cities or towns where they have resident parking zones.   A live-out nanny is not a resident, so they can not get a residents parking permit.  So where do they park their car and who pays the parking charge?

A nanny may be able to use:

  • visitors parking permit
  • visitors daily parking voucher
  • business permit
  • pay at meter

However there are often restrictions on permits and visitor vouchers may be limited to a certain number per year.  A nanny isn’t a business, so some local councils may not issue a business permit.     All these permits or vouchers cost money, so if they are available who would pay – the nanny, or the employer?

It could be said that parking is a cost for the employee, just like their cost of driving to work.  You wouldn’t pay for a nannies fuel costs to and from work.   However, the nanny having a car may be a requirement of the job, in which case providing somewhere that car can be parked I feel is a burden on the employer.  It’s not the nannies fault that the street on which their employer lives has parking restrictions.

Each case I feel would need to be considered on an individual basis and the nanny and their employer would need to come to some agreement about who pays the parking charges.  If a car is not required for the job and there is suitable local public transport, then does the nanny really need to drive to work?

In the UK our taxation law allows an employer to pay an employees parking charges.  See Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, S237.  The parking space needs to be at or near the place of work.  It does not apply for things like parking charges at a railway station to enable a nanny to travel to work by train.  For advice about this, nanny employers should contact their accountant or nanny payroll service.

When working out the cost of employing a nanny, the cost of the nanny parking their car outside your home should be taken into account.  If you do not need your nanny to use their car for work, then when advertising the position make it clear that applicants are expected to travel to work using public transport.

 

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Nanny Holiday Entitlement

Posted on July 12, 2012 by nannynick

Over the past few days I have noticed that parents on various internet forums have been asking about how much holiday their nanny gets.

In the UK we have Statutory Holiday Entitlement which means that all employees get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year at a minimum.

There can be confusion about how this affects part-time workers, such as a nanny who works 3 days a week.   So to help, take a look at the table below for a quick way of seeing how much statutory holiday your nanny should be getting.  You CAN NOT give less holiday than statutory entitlement, so you will need to decide what to do about fractional parts of a day.  Rounding up to the nearest whole day is a nice thing to do.   Otherwise if you are dealing in parts of a day, then it may be better to calculate holiday in Hours.   It may also be better to calculate in Hours if your nanny works different hours on different days.

UK Statutory Holiday Entitlement

Days Worked Per Week: 1 Day 2 Days 3 Days 4 Days 5 Days
Statutory Entitlement: 5.6 Days 11.2 Days 16.8 Days 22.4 Days 28 Days

Bank/Public Holidays

An employer can decide if Bank/Public holidays are to be taken off as part of annual leave or if the nanny needs to work those days, or if they will be paid days off in addition to annual leave.

When a nanny only works 3 days a week, Tuesday to Thursday it can be confusing about Bank/Public Holidays.  Very few bank/public holidays fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  Most bank holidays are on a Monday.  Good Friday is always a Friday.  However other bank/public holidays vary in the day of the week because they are a specific date, such as New Years Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day.  Then there are also special holidays like the Queens Diamond Jubilee we had on 5 June 2012.  If you look at the holidays list on Direct.Gov you can find out the dates of  holidays over the next couple of years.  You then need to convert those dates to day of the week using a calendar, or using an online date to day calculator.

Calculating Holiday In Hours

To calculate holiday in hours rather than days, use the formula:

Hours per week * 5.6

That works if the nanny is working the same number of hours each week.  So for example a nanny who works 10 hours on Mon, Tue, Wed and 5 hours on Thursday, they work a total of 35 hours a week.   35 * 5.6 = 196 Hours.    Then when the nanny takes holiday on a Wednesday and Thursday, you would deduct 10+5 = 15 hours, from the annual holiday entitlement.

Remember as the employer you can dictate when your nanny takes holiday.  You approve or decline holiday requests.  It is good practice to have requests for holiday made in writing (or e-mail) and that you respond to the request in the same way, then both you and your nanny have a record of the holiday request and the action: approved or declined.

In the past many nannies working a 5 day week have had in their contracts that they get 4 weeks plus bank holidays off.   This does still work for a nanny working Mon-Fri but it does not work in other circumstances, which is why the 5.6 weeks calculation is used (employment legislation was changed in October 2007).

Nannies these days can often work part-time, so a  nanny who works 3 days a week (Tuesday to Thursday) is not going to have very many bank/public holidays falling on a working day.  So 4 weeks plus bank holidays could mean 3*4=12 + 3 (New Years Day, Xmas, Boxing Day) = 15 Days.  Where as now, it is 3 * 5.6 = 16.8 days.

A nanny working 5 days (Mon-Fri) used to get 4 weeks plus bank/public holidays – so 20 days plus usually 8 bank/public holidays, so 28 days.    Now they get 5 * 5.6 = 28 days.  No difference.

The change in 2007 to the 5.6 weeks calculation means that part-time workers do not lose out when it comes to calculating statutory holiday entitlement due to them not working on a particular day of the week (such as a Monday) when a lot of bank holidays occur.

I hope that makes sense.  If you are struggling to work out how much holiday your nanny is entitled to, please do post in the comments and I will try to answer your query.

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Job Stability for Nannies

Posted on July 2, 2012 by nannynick

Whilst working as a nanny is one of the most rewarding jobs you can have, there are some negatives to being a nanny.

In the current UK job market many jobs are vulnerable.  As a nanny you are reliant on your employer having a job.  Some nannies may work for families where parents do not have jobs but I would have thought such a situation is rare.  These days nannies are often employed by working parents.

Recently I have heard from two nannies who lost their jobs during the past few weeks.  Their role has become redundant as a parent will be staying at home to care for their own children due to having been made redundant from their job.  Redundancy can happen to anyone and it happens to employers of nannies, who subsequently make their nanny redundant.

In the current economic climate it is prudent to have some savings to fall back on, should you be made redundant and have a period of time where you do not have an income.  Nannying is not a stable job… whilst you can work  for a family for many years, at some point the job will end.

If your employment ends, do try to keep on friendly terms with your ex-employer.  Ask them for a written reference and request that you can pass on their phone number to agencies and possible future employers so that the written reference can be checked verbally.    Keep in touch with them, you never know if they have been made redundant they may decide to job hunt again in the future and may need a nanny again.

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