| FURLOUGH 4.0 |
| Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a new raft of support measures connected to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. This seems to be a response to the growing lock-down and complaints that the government was not doing enough to assist businesses and their employees. The Job Support Scheme When originally announced, the JSS – which will come into effect on 1 November – saw employers paying a third of their employees’ wages for hours not worked and required employees to be working 33% of their normal hours. This announcement reduces the employer contribution to those unworked hours to just 5%, and reduces the minimum hours requirements to 20%, so those working just one day a week will be eligible. Employers will pay their staff normally for hours they work. Then, they’ll be paid two-thirds of their pay for the remaining hours (with the employer covering 5% and the government paying 95%). So people will still see lower take-home pay – we have prepared the table below. Normal Hours JSS Hours Take home percentage of contracted hours 20% 80% 74% 25% 75% 75% 30% 70% 76% 33% 67% 77% 35% 65% 78% 40% 60% 80% 45% 55% 81% 50% 50% 83% 55% 45% 85% 60% 40% 86% 65% 35% 88% 70% 30% 90% 75% 25% 92% 80% 20% 93% 85% 15% 95% 90% 10% 97% 95% 5% 98% The maximum payment will be £1541.75 per month. The cap is set above median earnings for employees in August at a reference salary of £3,125 per month. The employer will be reimbursed in arrears for the government contribution. The relevant employee(s) must not be on a redundancy notice. The JSS is intended to protect viable jobs over next six months after the furlough scheme ends at the end of the month. All small and medium-sized firms with a UK PAYE scheme and UK bank account are eligible – but large firms are only eligible if their turnover has fallen in the pandemic and can document this. The JSS is open to firms who have not used the earlier CJRS scheme. That means that if someone was being paid £587 for their unworked hours, the government would be contributing £543 and their employer only £44. Employers will continue to be entitled to receive the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus: https://src-time.co.uk/the-job-retention-bonus-explained/ Self-Employment Income Support Scheme As part of the Winter Economy Plan, Rishi Sunak had announced an extension to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). There was to be a lump sum to cover November to January next year, worth 20 per cent of average monthly profits, capped at £1,875. There was also to be a second grant for February to April 2021of an unspecified value. Today’s announcement sets the amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, meaning the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750. Business Support Grants The Chancellor has also announced approved additional funding to support cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for Local Authorities moving into Tier 3. Local Authorities (LAs) will be able to support businesses in high-alert level areas which are not legally closed, but which are severely impacted by the restrictions on socialising. The funding LAs will receive will be based on the number of hospitalities, hotel, B&B, and leisure businesses in their area. LAs will receive a funding amount that will be the equivalent of:For properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants of £934 per month.For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000-£51,000, grants of £1,400 per month.For properties with a rateable value of £51,000, grants of £2,100 per month.This is equivalent to 70% of the grant amounts given to legally closed businesses (worth up to £3,000/month). Local Authorities will also receive a 5% top up amount to these implied grant amounts to cover other businesses that might be affected by the local restrictions, but which do not neatly fit into these categories. It will be up to Local Authorities to determine which businesses are eligible for grant funding in their local areas, and what precise funding to allocate to each business – the above levels are an approximate guide. Businesses in Very High alert level areas will qualify for greater support whether closed (up to £3,000/month) or open. In the latter case support is being provided through business support packages provided to Local Authorities as they move into the alert level. SRC-Time are one of the South East’s leading accountancy firms in advising the self-employed and partnerships in all aspects of their tax affairs and we are able to assist in any issue raised above. |
Category: parents
5 Quiet Alternatives to Screen-Time
“Screen time is bad for your children!” It seems as though that’s all we’re hearing in the news lately. Whilst research is still being conducted into the full effects of screen-time on young children, here are 5 alternatives for when you and your child need a little quiet time instead of turning to the TV, tablet or games console.
Things to consider when employing a non UK nanny
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.
It is important to make sure you take proper steps to make sure nanny can be employed legally in the UK. If you do not you could face a £20,000 penalty or worst case scenario a 2 year prison sentence!
You must take a photocopy for identity check of a passport, birth certificate or national ID card. We would always recommend you see an original version before taking a copy.
An EEA (European Economic Area), employers must check their right to work documents, take a photocopy, and make sure they are from the EEA country.
For a more detailed guide:
Small Employer Relief
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.
In order to qualify for small employer relief, your liability for national insurance for the last complete tax year needs to be £45,000 or less.
An employer hiring a nanny will often meet the criteria of small employer relief.
This means that for statutory payments such as maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay and adoption pay, you can reclaim 100% of these payments plus an additional 3% to help towards the cost of your employers NI.
It is important that this is noted in the payroll software, so if you ever have statutory payments, they will get deducted off your tax and national insurance liability each quarter.
Employers with a liability of more than £45,000.00 in last complete tax year can only claim back 92% of the above statutory payments.
Benefits in Kind
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.
Benefits in kind are benefits which both Employers and Employees can receive from their employment, which are not included in their salary.
As an employee, you pay tax on company benefits. The amount of tax you pay, depends on what kind of benefits you get and their value and it is the employer who deducts the amounts from the employee’s gross earnings. However, some company benefits, are tax free.
Most common benefits in Kind for nannies are listed below:
Private Car Mileage / Fuel Allowance
– Is not a taxable benefit if the employee is using the car during working hours. If they are using the car to get to and from work and outside their normal working hours, then this would be classed as a benefit in kind. If nanny is using their own car whilst they are at work, up to 0.45p per mile is tax free. Anything above this amount would be classed as a benefit and kind and will need to be reported to HMRC.
Private Medical Insurance
Subscriptions and Professional Fees
- Such as paying for nanny’s Ofsted registration, DBS check, Nanny’s Public Liability Insurance
Living Accommodation
If you are providing living accommodation where the nanny has separate living quarters to the employer, this is classed as a benefit in kind, along with any bills and furniture you provide
Beneficial loans – Interest free or low interest
- Any low –interest or interest free loans above the value of £10,000 are a Benefit in Kind.
Flights – which do not include family holidays if you are taking the nanny with you
Any declarations for Benefits in Kind need to be submitted to HMRC via for P11(D) by 6th July each year. As an employer, there will be Class 1A National Insurance of 13.8% on the taxable benefit.
For more help and advice on this or any other payroll related matter please contact our recommended partners Payroll for Nannies https://www.payrollfornannies.co.uk/
THE JOB RETENTION BONUS EXPLAINED
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.
In our review of Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economy Plan https://src-time.co.uk/government-announces-further-covid-19-support/, we referred to the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) which was announced earlier this year to sit alongside the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), although it does not actually form part of it. The Chancellor has decided that when the new Job Support Scheme (JSS) commences on 1 November, it will be possible to claim both it and the JRB.
Background
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the scheme in July 2020 as an incentive for employers to retain staff in respect of whom they were receiving CJRS payments, after the CJRS scheme had ended.
The scheme comprises a one-off payment to employers of £1,000 in respect of every eligible employee for whom the employer has made a valid claim under the CJRS and who remains continuously employed through to 31 January 2021.
The JRB payment will be subject to corporation tax or income tax, so the business must include the whole amount as income when calculating its taxable profits.
Employers will be able to claim the JRB through gov.uk after they have filed their RTI returns for January. Payments will be made to employers from February 2021 by direct bank transfer
Qualifying employers
All types of employers are eligible for the scheme including recruitment agencies and umbrella companies, as well as those private households operating a PAYE scheme in respect of domestic staff. The employer must:
- have a UK bank account
- have complied with their obligations to pay and file PAYE accurately and on time under the RTI reporting system for all employees to the end of January 2021; and
- be up to date with payroll obligations and have addressed all requests from HMRC to provide missing employee data in respect of historic CJRS claims.
Employee eligibility
Each employee must have been:
- furloughed and the subject of an eligible CJRS claim;
- continuously employed by the relevant employer from the time of the employer’s most recent CJRS claim for them, to 31 January 2021; and
- paid a total of at least £1,560 for the period 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2021. The employee does not have to be paid £520 in each month but must have received some earnings in each of the three calendar months that have been paid and reported to HMRC via RTI.
Claims may be made for employees who are office holders, company directors and agency workers, including those employed by umbrella companies. These criteria must be met regardless of the frequency of the employee’s pay periods, their hours worked or rate of pay.
Employees who have returned from statutory parental leave or who are military reservists returning to work after 10 June 2020, for whom a CJRS claim has been made, all qualify provided the other eligibility criteria are met, as do employees who are on fixed term contracts.
Note that the employee must not be serving a contractual or statutory notice period, that started before 1 February 2021.
Holiday Allowance
A full time nanny is entitled to 28 days holiday (5.6 weeks) which includes bank holidays. Employers are entitled to choose all the dates of holiday nanny should take, but in practice nanny normally chooses 2 weeks while the employer chooses the other 2 weeks.
In your contract with nanny, make sure you ask for notice for nanny’s proposed holiday this will allow you to find alternative childcare. Some employers ask for at least 4 weeks notice.
We would recommend you keep note of holiday taken paid or unpaid, just in case nanny leaves part way through the year and has over taken on holiday. This way any unpaid or over paid holiday can be paid/deducted in her final payslip.
If nanny works more than 5 days a week, their holiday entitlement is capped at 28 days. It is not a problem if you agree more day’s holiday with nanny – this could be a condition of her working for over a stated amount of time.
If nanny is part time, she is entitled to annual leave (28 days including bank holidays), but pro-rated. So if nanny works 2 days a week, her holiday allowance is calculated:
2 days a week x 5.6 annual holiday allowance = 11.20 days holiday.
You must not round the holiday allowance down to 11, but can round it up to 11.5 days.
If nanny works different hours each week, you calculate her holiday pay by averaging her last 12 weeks worked hours then multiply it by 5.6, this then gives you her holiday entitlement in hours for the year and when she has a day’s holiday or was due to work on a public holiday, whatever hours she was scheduled to work that day are then deducted from her overall annual entitlement.
For more advice and support on this or any other payroll related matter please contact our recommended partners Payroll for Nannies https://www.payrollfornannies.co.uk/
Job Retention Bonus
A one-off payment of £1,000 will be made to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme at the end of October 2020 and the end of January 2021. Payments will be made from February 2021.
This bonus will be available to any employer who has furloughed an employee, even if just for the minimum three week period.
For more advice and support about Coronavirus and how it might affect employment or any other pay related issues please get in touch.
How Nannies Can Help Children Cope With Parents’ Divorce
If you nanny for a family who is breaking up and going through a divorce or separation, it can be a real task to help get the kids through things, as well as to carry on your general nanny duties throughout this unstable time for all involved.
Children of any age can be deeply affected by their parents divorcing, even if they appear to be coping well on the outside, and it is a known fact that the bond with a caregiver may be the most stable relationship for the child during a divorce. In this situation, the nanny is seen as a caring adult who can provide a different perspective on things and not be full of the emotion that the child’s parents would be at the time – this can be a real relief for the child.
So, here are some ways that as a nanny you can really help the parents, children, and yourself, in a divorce or separation situation:
Communication
You need to know what the parents want you to know, and more importantly what they want you to say to the child. Be as straightforward as possible, and ask the parents to sit down with you and help you to do your best by their child, by briefing you properly on things. It may be painful, but it’s necessary.
Set out your stand
If you see your position as long term and would like to carry on working for the family (and they still want / can afford to employ you), then make it clear that you understand this is a difficult time, but that you will need to know where and what hours you will be required to work from now on. Make it clear that for you to do your job, you need to be in the loop with any custody and visitation issues at the very least. Remember this is a business relationship when all is said and done, and they should still respect that.
Patience is a virtue
Whatever reaction the child has, make sure you are patient and let them go through it. The last thing the child needs is for the one stable adult influence to be pressuring them to be ‘mature’ or not get too upset. If they are allowed to go through the emotions they feel, they will eventually come through the other side, and trust you all the more.
Reassurance
Use reassuring language, and if the child has a tactile nature, then give lots of hugs. Answer any questions they may ask you as best you can, based on what the parents have told you. Reassure the child that they are NOT responsible for the divorce, and repeat this as much as possible. In all the chaos the parents may have forgotten the incredible importance of this.
Keep normal schedules and routines
Encourage parents to do the same at home. Try not to change any more things than necessary, so that the child can feel as secure and ‘normal’ as they possibly can.
Encourage parents
If you have a good relationship with the parents, try to encourage them to spend a bit more time with the child when your shift starts and ends. If, for example, a dad has moved out of the family home, when he is in your place of work with the child, leave them alone for a little while, so he can have some valuable moments when he might not have done.
Remember that above all, the most important thing is to be a stable, calm and consistently positive influence for the child at this trying time. This will help you grow as a nanny, increase the bond that you have with the family, and very importantly help the children in their time of need.
Do you agree with our thoughts on this extremely sensitive issue? Post a comment or let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page…
Changing Career And Becoming A Nanny
With the economy and the job market struggling, there has been an increase in the number of people rethinking just how they can carve out a career for themselves. There are many people who previously did totally different jobs with no link to child care who are now wanting to go about getting into the industry. Here we outline the best ways to get into nannying if you don’t know where to start and have no experience, but know it’s where you see your career heading.
Start with the end in mind
Like starting any career, ask yourself where you see yourself in 5 years time, or even in 20 years time! It’s always best to begin something with a clear goal, and stick to it. Write down what you want from this career change, and ultimately where you see it taking you, and keep referring to it as you go to keep on track mentally.
Qualifications and experience
The good news is that there are no legal qualifications that you have to hold to become a nanny. However, this can be a double edged sword in cases, as parents will want to be as sure as possible that you can cope with the job, if they can’t see it written on a formal black and white certificate.
There are courses you can do to show that you are capable, including CACHE (the officially recognised Awarding Body for Early Years, Care and Education, and Play-work). Another way to prove you’re serious is to join the voluntary section of the General Childcare Register, which is administered by Ofsted, and covers things like Paediatric First Aid training (something that potential employers will want you to have).
As with anything else, the more experience you have, generally the more able you will be, so gain as much experience with children outside your family as possible, whether this is helping out at local playgroups, or babysitting for friends. This is a great way to use case studies as examples when being interviewed for a nannying job, and will put faith into parents that you can handle situations with children alone.
Learning
Be aware that potential employers will expect you to help with their child’s key stages of development. You’ll be expected to plan and organise fun activities to help development and learning, so it is worth looking into registering on courses that would help you with this. There are many courses out there, and it helps that you can use distance learning. A great place to start is to have a look at our list at http://www.nannyjob.co.uk/information/general/qualifications.aspx, and check out the list on www.childcarecollege.co.uk.
References
If you have no experience in the industry, it is still worth getting character references from previous employers, even if from a totally different sector. Potential employers will want to know about how trustworthy you are, what your timekeeping is like, and what kind of motivation levels you have, no matter what you did previously.
Know what you will and won’t do
Does the idea of walking the family dog fill you with dread? Are you happy to be asked to do the household ironing? Before you advertise your services as a nanny, prepare yourself to be asked to do things that are not strictly childcare based. Most nannies do nursery duties, which is anything related to the child within reason, so washing and ironing, and tidying the bedroom and playroom, as well as cooking meals would all most likely be expected of you. If there is anything that you really wouldn’t want to do then make it clear from the start.
The Nannyjob website should be a great source of information to help you get to grips with learning and beginning your new career, and ultimately to get a fantastic position! Good luck from the Nannyjob team.