Nanny

Employing a nanny may just be the solution for your family needs.

Employing a nanny can be a great option as the care takes place in your own home which is specific personalized one on one care for your child.

Whether to employ a nanny or not really depends on your personal situation and there is a lot to take into consideration.

A nanny can be either live in or live out.

A professional nanny will most likely hold some qualification, as well as a first aid certificate and any other traditional childcare regulated requirements. Although, you may also find that many nannies that don’t hold formal childcare qualifications but have plenty of experience of looking after children.

A nanny will not suit every one as a care option. There are many individual factors to consider.

Additionally, there are generalized pros’ and cons’ to employing a nanny to be mindful of.

Advantages:

• More individualised care.
• Care takes place in your home.
• Generally a professional carer.
• No travel time for yourself in accessing the care.
• Less exposure to sickness than other care options.
• Nanny may also do household duties such as clean the child’s room and their washing, etc.
• They may become an invaluable member of the family and care and education of the child. They may develop a close bond with your child.

Disadvantages:

• Can be more expensive compared to other child care options and your individual care requirements.
• If the nanny is sick you will need to make alternative care arrangements.
• There may be less social interaction on a regular basis with other children.
• You may not be entitled to rebates.
• You are responsible for the tax, superannuation and insurance requirements.
• You may feel that some privacy is lost.
• When the nanny leaves the child may be devastated after a bond had developed.
• You need to take into account their travel to you as there may be delays from time to time which may affect your ability to be at work on time.

The cost of employing a nanny can vary greatly.

There are many factors which alter the expense. The cost is influenced by:

• The market
• Your location
• How many children
• Whether it is live in or out
• If you offer other entitlements such as mobile phone, car, etc.
• The duties and responsibilities of the role
• The nanny’s experience
• The nanny’s qualifications
• To a lesser extent supply and demand.

Having said that, the ball park is $20-40 per hour live out and $15-30/per hour or an agreed weekly rate if live in.

The rate may also be impacted depending on the way you source your nanny.

If you go through an agency the rate will most likely be higher. However, if you employ them directly you must pay their tax and superannuation so after taking that into account. Therefore, there may well be not a lot of difference from the cost of going through an agency when this is factored into account.

If you choose to employ a nanny it does not automatically entitle you to be able to claim a subsidy from the Government as you would if you chose a formal child care option. Subsidies generally don’t cover employing a nanny, however, it is a possibility when employing a nanny if you employ a nanny through an agency that has been approved for registered care or the nanny themselves are a registered carer. You may then be able to claim a certain amount and number of hours/week.

It is important to check with the agency you are possibly utilizing to confirm that they do cover superannuation and tax as not all nanny agencies operate this way.

You must comply with the legal obligations of being an employer. This is unless the nanny uses their ABN and you agree that they will be self employed at which point they take on the employment responsibilities such as superannuation, tax, etc.

The legal obligations are ensuring you pay the minimum wage. For casual employees the minimum wage is 23% higher per hour.

Meanwhile if you employ a nanny the obligation to pay the minimum wage applies in spite of any benefits (use of car, phone, etc) that may be offered as part of the employment package unless agreed as part of a salary sacrifice.

It is important to also be clear on your employees entitlements.

Paying nannies cash in hand (or under the table) is not only illegal it is unfair to the nanny in cases of trying to apply for credit to purchase a car or house as they have no means of substantiating their income.

We discuss more about employing a nanny https://www.seriouslykids.com.au/parenting/employing-a-nanny/