Q&A on sharing a nanny from a legal perspective
Q. I cannot afford a nanny on my own. Can I share a nanny with another family?
A. Yes you can. Once you have found another family willing to share, decide how it will work. This could be different days for each family or a full time role looking after both sets of children at one or other family home. If you decide to have the other family’s children at your home, you will need to have in place appropriate insurance cover.
Q. Should we use one contract or should each family have a separate contract with the nanny?
A. We advise each family to have a separate contract with the nanny.
Q. How will each family pay the nanny’s tax and national insurance?
A. This is a problematic area if not done correctly, so please always refer to the Nannytax Payroll team.
Q. Can I reduce the nanny’s rate of pay because I am sharing her?
A: No you cannot change her existing rate of pay. When starting off you should agree the rate of pay with the other family and the rate must be above the national minimum wage. To check this you must work out all the hours the nanny works (this includes hours at night where the nanny sleeps over and has sole charge of the children) and ensure the minimum wage rate is established. Minimum rates are currently £5.35 for 22 year old and £4.45 for 18-21 year olds.
Q. How do we manage holiday?
A. Agree with the other family when and how holiday will be taken and put it in the contract, otherwise it will cause problems. Agree also how to manage occasions when one family may wish to take nanny on holiday with them.
Q. How do we manage disciplinary issues?
A. Always problematic if the families have different rules so set out your accepted standards and rules right at the start. Any breaches of those rules can then be dealt with in a fair way. If you have separate contracts then the nanny may be dismissed from either employer but if shared contract it would need a joint decision. Do ring Nannytax Legal HR Dept for advice