Customer FAQ Guide
Knowing and understanding all the responsibilities that you receive when you hire a nanny or any domestic staff can be confusing; employers and employees will have different questions about the obligations and benefits of the working relationship from their own perspectives. It’s essential that you know and follows every step to ensure that your nanny’s payroll runs smoothly and is set up correctly and that you don’t miss any payments to HMRC.
You will find below a compilation of the most asked questions from our clients and nannies. If you don’t find your questions answered below, please feel free to send us an email to payroll@littleoneslondon.co.uk with your questions, and one of our payroll assistants will come back to us as soon as possible.
Is it necessary to have a Nanny Payroll Service?
As an employer of a nanny, housekeeper or any domestic staff, you have the legal obligation to declare and submit your employee’s tax and NIC payments to HMRC. You don’t need to have a nanny payroll service (employers can decide to do this by themselves), but many families choose to get a nanny payroll service to save time and stress.
Choosing a Payroll Service to liaise with HRMC on your behalf will alleviate the burdon of making sure that all your responsibilities as an employer are fully met. Little Ones Payroll Service team will take care of the administrative requirements, from setting up your account for the first time to helping with the end of the employment.
If you have hired a nanny through Little Ones UK Agency, you can join our monthly payroll service as complimentary for the first 6 months of employment.
How long will it take to set up a nanny payroll service?
Our team of payroll assistants will guide you through all the processes. As soon as you fill in our online registration form and send them the necessary documents, they will contact HMRC and the pension service to set up your nanny’s account. All this can be completed within two to ten working days.
What are the requirements for setting up a nanny payroll service?
Our payroll assistants will ask you to complete or send the following:
- Completed Little Ones Nanny Payroll request for information form (required by HMRC)
- Employer’s National Insurance number
- Employment information (start date, working days/hours, rate of pay)
- Nanny’s P45 or new starter’s checklist
When do I need to pay my nanny and send them their payslip?
As an employer, the best thing to do is to ask your nanny when they would like to get paid and discuss if it will be a weekly, fortnightly or monthly payment. You need to consider that you need to provide your nanny with a payslip every time you pay them. For example, if you decide to make a weekly payment of their wage, you will need to give them a payslip every week that reflects their salary, tax, pension and NIN contributions.
Many families will choose to pay their nanny or domestic private staff monthly to make the process easier.
How much does Little Ones Payroll Service cost?
All the following prices include VAT.
Our Little Ones’ Nanny Monthly Payroll Service costs £76 per quarter; adding the pension service will make the total £94 per quarter.
A weekly/fortnightly payroll service will cost £96 per quarter; if you are interested in having the pension service as an addition, the cost will be £118 per quarter.
To help you with P11 is £48.
Furlough Service is £72.
Declaration of compliance is £96.
Do I need to send my employee’s payslips to them, or will Little Ones Payroll service do this?
Every month, our Payroll assistants will make sure that both the employer and employee receive their payslip for the monthly or weekly service they are paying via email. If you cannot find your payslip in your email, our specialist will help you by resending any documents you need from us.
How many holidays is my nanny or domestic private staff entitled to?
As a general rule, annual holiday entitlement works out to be the number of days worked per week x 5.6. However, this can vary if the nanny/employee works less than five days per week or temporarily. Our helpful team at Little Ones Nanny Payroll Service will formulate the correct holiday entitlement upon setting up your Payroll subscription.
What happens if my nanny is sick? Do I need to pay them Sick days?
Your nanny qualifies for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if they have been off work sick for four or more days in a row (including non-working days). Many families will decide how many sick days their nanny or private domestic staff will have before the employment starts on full salary if something happens to them that does not allow them to come to work. The best place to put this agreement is in the employment contract.
My nanny or domestic private staff member is pregnant? What’s next?
Many families don’t know they are obliged to give their nanny statutory maternity pay if they are pregnant; however, not every nanny qualifies for this benefit. So what does my nanny need to be eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay?
They must:
- earn on average at least £120 a week
- give the correct notice
- provide proof that they’re pregnant
- have worked for the employer continuously for at least 26 weeks up to the ‘qualifying week’ – the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.
The employee will automatically be entitled to statutory maternity leave if they have been in employment for more than 15 weeks. The employer must keep the post available to the employee for 39 weeks. At least 15 weeks before the employee’s due date, the employee should tell the employer when the baby will be due and when they want to start their maternity leave. The employer can ask for this in writing. The employer must write to the employee within 28 days confirming the employee’s maternity start and end dates.
My nanny has two jobs; how does that affect me?
The amount of tax you will need to pay as an employer may be affected if your nanny has two jobs. Our payroll assistant will help you calculate the exact amount of tax, pension and NIN you need to pay to HMRC.
Do I need to contact HMRC if I’m using Little Ones Payroll Service?
The answer to this question is no. Our payroll assistant will liaise with HMRC on your behalf; we will represent you in every step, so you don’t need to worry about anything – no need to worry about missing payment deadlines or waiting for long periods on telephone calls. Our team will send you reminders of when you need to pay and how.
I need an employment contract. Can Little Ones Payroll help me create this?
Little Ones Payroll will happily assist you with your employment contract. We have contract templates for nanny, housekeeper, nanny-housekeeper employment and more, which you can download for free.
Who do I need to call if I need assistance with Nanny or Housekeeper Payroll?
Our helpful team at Little Ones Payroll are always on hand to help you with any queries. Please call us on 020 7183 6795, request a call back at your convenience, or send an email to payroll@littleoneslondon.co.uk.
Do I need to set up a workplace pension for my employee?
Under the new workplace pension reform, every employer in the UK must put their employees into a pension scheme if they are aged 22 or over and are under state pension age and/or earn over £192 gross per week (or £833 gross per month).
Little One’s Payroll provides a fully managed workplace pension scheme for our clients. However, please note that the Pensions Regulator will send you a penalty notice if you do not comply with the new pension reforms.
Nanny Payroll is free for our clients with new recruits
If you have recently hired or are considering hiring a nanny, housekeeper or au pair through Little Ones, your monthly payroll service is completely free for 6 months from your new employee’s start date. Please note that our weekly payroll service has a cost of £76 per quarter. Please call Little Ones Nanny Payroll team for more information.
Little Ones is an internationally established London nanny agency with two offices in Fitzrovia and Kings Cross.
Our years of experience, dedication and integrity with Payroll services have developed an extensive and constantly expanding network of satisfied clients whose needs and requirements we understand and accommodate to the highest standard.
Little Ones’ team of professional and committed consultants understand the importance of making the best possible match between families and nannies. We know that every family has individual needs and requirements, just as every nanny has unique qualities to offer, and we won’t stop until we are confident that the perfect match has been made.
If you are just starting the process, or are still finding the right Nanny, Housekeeper or Au Pair for your family and would like to know more about our Payroll service, please call Little Ones Nanny Payroll team to talk with our expert consultants on 020 7183 6795.
New to Employing a Nanny ?
Once you have found your nanny, there are a few things that you will need to do prior to them starting with you.
We have highlighted these key steps below for you.
Verify that your nanny is legally permitted to work in the UK
Simply check an ID document (e.g. passport or visa.)
Calculate your overall cost by agreeing on a gross salary.
Your total cost will include your nanny’s gross wage, employer’s NI, and any pension contributions. You can use our Gross to Net Salary Calculator to work this out.
Make sure you have a Employment contract in place.
We will create a bespoke contract for you as part of our service.
HMRC requires you to register as an employer.
We will do this for you as part of our service.