Childminder in childs own home

tullaman

Anyone out there with experience of having a childminder come to mind kids in their own home - not a live in au pair but someone local and with experience who would come each morning and leave again each afternoon.

As we have four I intially thought that getting someone to come to our home would be a real money saver but as the carer is only caring for your children and as you are supplying all the facilities then at that stage is the childminder not really an employee so you have to get into prsi, pensions, holiday pay etc etc. And even paying say 8-9eur an hour the costs escalate pretty quickly. Or are minder happy to work for less than that?

Anyone out there who went down that route? How did it go?

deisemum

Whatever you do the one thing I'd recommend is cover your ass.

I'm sure there are some people who wouldn't mind coming into your home, accept below the legal minimum age for cash in hand but you'd be leaving yourself wide open for possible reporting to the revenue. I've been told of several cases where a childminder in someone else's home finished up childminding as an employee and went to claim social payments of some kind only for the family to end up in trouble with Social Welfare and the Revenue.

Insurance would be another big thing to look into.

Orion

They're not employees. It's the equivalent of hiring a plumber to fix a leaky pipe. They are self-employed and responsible for their own taxes/social insurance etc. I'd recommend making sure that any agreement signed with a childminder states that to avoid any gray areas.

deisemum

Childminders that come into a family's home working the hours described by op become employees. A plumber coming in to fix a leaky tap is on one off job and is seen as being completely different with the Revenue.

OP the Revenue are very helpful and you can always phone up and seek clarification on employing someone ie the costs involved and your legal duties as an employer.

Corb

Nanny rates are between €10-12 in Dublin. You'd be lucky to get someone to do it for minimum wage to be honest. But I suppose people will work for anything these days. Plus you're in Co Clare I see so less work again.

Try on Rollercoaster.ie in the Childcare section. A lot of Nannies will work for cash in hand and it will work out fine but you are letting yourself open. I'm a Nanny and most families I've worked for have gone the cash in hand route. Not ideal for me obviously but if it's all I could get I had to go with it. Never had any problems but it's safer to cover your back and go down PRSI etc route.

Moonbeam

That sounds reasonable to me,is that for a few kids?
Sounds like a nice option then paying 5/6 euro an hour for a creche for 1.

tullaman

Thanks everyone for the replies. I thought the rate would be about 10 euro so maybe a little bit less down the country.

Corb as you have direct experience, how did the families you worked for deal with breaks which an employee (and the general feeling seems to be that a nanny is an employee) is entitled to. For myself I've noticed that funnily there tends not to be 'breaks' when minding one kid let alone four!!

Moonbeam, I guess it shows the exorbitant cost of childcare in Dublin v's down the country (I'm in Clare). At the 10eur mark it wouldn't be any cheaper for us versus the creche - which we are really happy with. Then adding in the extra heat and light in the house over the winter months and probable hassle of having to go down the employment route.

Corb

tullaman wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies. I thought the rate would be about 10 euro so maybe a little bit less down the country.

Corb as you have direct experience, how did the families you worked for deal with breaks which an employee (and the general feeling seems to be that a nanny is an employee) is entitled to. For myself I've noticed that funnily there tends not to be 'breaks' when minding one kid let alone four!!

Do you mean breaks during the day as in lunch breaks Tullaman? There are none You have time to yourself when the kids are asleep or when you get a quick chance but as in a break for an hour a day for lunch or anything like that it doesn't happen. Hope that's the question you asked

Boom_Bap

At the moment i have a childminder that comes to my house. It took me a long time to get used to the idea and we where initially looking for a childminder where we could drop off our little fella. But we found that there where too many annoying things we found in other peoples houses or with thier methods. For example, one house smelled really badly of cigarette smoke. The minder told us that she only smoked in the evenings when there are no children around.....but I really doubted that.
Another let the kids play in the front garden, i though it was a great idea until i was walking out of thier house and it was on a busy road that had buses up and down it all day.
These people had great qualifications and great recommendations but didn;t suit our needs.
We eventually found a girl to come to our house a couple of days a week which was the best decision. We know our house is child proofed and the garden was safe etc.
Our minder is working for less than €10 an hour, and is very flexible. I guess we got really lucky in the end.
The bonus is that we are raising our son to be bi-lingual (English/German) and she is fluent in both languages.
All i can say is that the right person for the right price is out there, patience is required to find them though

tullaman

Corb wrote: »

Do you mean breaks during the day as in lunch breaks Tullaman? There are none You have time to yourself when the kids are asleep or when you get a quick chance but as in a break for an hour a day for lunch or anything like that it doesn't happen. Hope that's the question you asked

Like you say, I mean that it's pretty much impossible when employing a nanny to guarantee the kind of breaks that employees are legally entitled to!!

Thanks for the reply Boom_Bap. I presume from what you are saying that you are not treating her as an employee - you don't have prsi returns for her etc etc.

Boom_Bap

tullaman wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Boom_Bap. I presume from what you are saying that you are not treating her as an employee - you don't have prsi returns for her etc etc.

Correct, we dont mind and she doesnt seem to mind either