Redefining childcare: Exploring legal and flexible solutions with redwigwam
By: Claire, redwigwam
Any parent who’s ever explored the world of childcare will know finding the right solution for your family can be a minefield. From child minders, to family, nurseries to au pairs or private nannies, there really are so many options to consider when you’re planning your return to work.
Using a private nanny or au pair has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly in families where parents start work before ‘traditional’ childcare is open, or where there are mixed ages of children – some perhaps requiring care around school hours, while youngers siblings need to be looked after all day.
It’s a flexible option – but if it is something you are considering for your own family, it’s essential you are aware of the legal requirements around paying someone in your employment.
And this is where redwigwam can help.
Our pioneering platform offers a unique approach to employing individuals for in-home childcare while ensuring compliance with legal regulations. This means you can rest-assured you are protecting yourself and those in your employment.
How does the redwigwam platform work?
The redwigwam platform matches people looking for work with flexible, part-time, or temporary jobs in their local area. If you don’t have a nanny or au-pair lined up, you can advertise your role for free to our nationwide database and we’ll match you with suitable workers who are interested in the job.
From there, you can screen, interview, and meet with prospective employees and select the person perfect for the needs of your family.
Once you have a nanny or au pair in place (and equally if you already have someone lined up and are just looking for a platform to ensure you are paying them correctly), you simply load the shifts they are working onto the platform and book the worker onto them.
The shifts will contain all the essential information your nanny needs, including hourly pay rate, number of hours to be worked, start and finish time and any specific information for the shift.
Your nanny will then submit a timesheet after they have completed the shift, which you then approve.
We then pay the worker on your behalf through redwigwam’s payroll, making all required deductions from their salary (to include National Insurance, tax, pension contribution and holiday pay) and we’ll invoice you for this amount plus our booking and payroll fee.
Why can’t I just pay my nanny cash-in-hand?
Quite simply, if you pay your nanny cash-in-hand, you’re breaking the law (and they may also be breaking the law for accepting the payment). It is essentially tax evasion which can come with a large fine and potentially prosecution. It’s just not worth the risk.
You may think you’re doing them a favour, but they’ll end up with gaps in their NI contributions, which matter later in life, and also potentially with a huge tax bill of their own to pay.
There’s nothing illegal about paying cash, but it MUST go through a payroll, which means HMRC are informed, and all appropriate deductions are made.
Using a reputable payroll provider, like redwigwam, means they are also entitled to all the employment benefits we offer, including holiday pay and access to our pension scheme. They’ll get a payslip showing all their earnings and deductions each time they are paid.
A hassle-free payroll solution
In summary, if you are employing a nanny or au pair, you are required by law to deduct tax and National Insurance from their pay.
Using a reputable payroll provider is the easiest way to do this. The advantage of the redwigwam platform is you can also use it to advertise your job role, screen candidates and then build and book all the shifts you need them to work.
Redwigwam employs the nanny and pays them on your behalf.
It’s a low-cost option and you’ll only be billed for the hours they work, plus a small booking fee and payroll admin costs.
Click below to create a free a account and get started, or book a demo and one of our account managers will walk you through the system and discuss how we can help.
