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!
Gross wage
As long as a gross wage is agreed the cost to the employer doesn’t change. Point nannies in the direction of calculators such as www.listentotaxman.com and advise them to put the gross wage in then change the tax code to BR to see what they’ll be taking home. Do explain that it would be exactly the same if they were working more hours in their other job, and they’ll be slightly better off because they pay marginally less National Insurance but may get two lots of certain types of statutory payment.
P45s
Usually when you put a new employee onto payroll they give you a P45 with all the information you need on it. For a second job a nanny may not have this, especially if her hours in the existing job have been reduced from full time. In that case she’ll need to fill out a ‘New Starter Checklist’, and the first payroll run is likely to use tax code BR to give any split time to catch up.
Overtime
If they’re working elsewhere they’re unlikely to available for ad hoc overtime, unless you know their existing employer and can come to some kind of arrangement. This is doubly important if she has a morning and an after-school job as she’ll need to leave on time from her morning job to be at the school gate.
Holiday allowance
It’s rare for a nanny with two jobs to be working five days a week for both, so holiday allowance needs to be expressed as a proportion of the 5.6 weeks she is entitled to. Bank Holidays are included in this 5.6 weeks, and holiday is on a per job basis, not overall so even if her other employer offers more the second job still need to offer the minimum for the number of days she works there.
Holiday requests
A nanny who has to juggle taking their choice of holiday with the needs of two families can end up with just bits and pieces rather than a block of a week or two. It’s rare for both sets of employers to pick the same weeks off, so it really pays for employers to accomdate a nanny’s request to let her have a solid block of R&R.