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nokidshere
19-10-2010, 11:39 AM
There is a possibility of my husband being made redundant in next 12 months :(

He is totally at home with babies and children and, just as an option, we are considering him working with me. At the moment I only work before and after school with children aged 7+

So if we were to go down the route of having younger children during the day would it be better to have him registered as a childminder in his own right or registered as my assistant?

Advice from anyone who works with their partner or an assistant would be very helpful - many thanks.

SaijaM
19-10-2010, 11:47 AM
Hi!

Sorry to hear about your husband being made redundant... :(

I'm no expert and have been minding only a while, but I've registered my husband as my assistant and he is helping me once in a while.. In the future I hope he will give up his full time job and work with me :) As we love to work together as well as be partners!
I think you just need to remember that you will be together at all times! We met working together anyhow, so we are used to it and know what the reality is.. and for me it's lovely times!

I'm sure you get better replies...

Good luck with it all xx
Saija

Mrs.L.C
19-10-2010, 05:21 PM
When Hubby started working with me we talked about the pro and cons about registering in his own right or being an assistant and chose to stick with being an assistant to keep costs down.

If he registered in his own right we would have double the Ofsted fees, double inspections (not sure about insurance) and he would have to do the 12 hours induction which was hard to get on round here

We worked out that the only pros of registering in his own right is he could stay at home with 1 or 2 or take 1 or 2 out with him to a group or something for more than an hour however we go to the groups together and the only thing he really does on his own is the school run or stays with any that are tired or asleep while im on the school run.
However if I am ill, I dont think he would be allowed to work on his own but then I am sure parents wouldnt want to bring the children to the house if I was too ill to work

We have consent from parents saying he can be on his own with the children for upto one hour.

He still has to do a first aid course and can attend other training if needed

We were registered to have just as many children as we would be allowed if he registered in his own right (however this varies from area to area) but we never go to our max numbers.

You have to work out the pros and cons for you and your setting

sarah707
19-10-2010, 05:41 PM
I have been looking into this recently.

An assistant is self employed and you pay them an agreed amount for the hours they work ... the current rules say that they can be self employed so long as they are free to look for work elsewhere.

They don't have to look for work elsewhere but they must be free to if they want.

A childminder works with you as a partner and you have to register as a partnership apparently... I am still trying to get to the bottom of exactly how that works because I keep getting different answers but it is more paperwork and like topchick_dav says you also have 2 lots of Ofsted fees, 2 inspections, extra insurance to pay etc.

The main downside of an assistant, from what I can work out, is that you must have written permission from Ofsted to leave them on their own with children and to be left alone they must have first aid (unless on school run - but that says different in 2 documents as well).

I hope that helps :D

mum2two
19-10-2010, 06:32 PM
I work with my husband, and he is registered in his own rights.

Yes we pay 2 ofsted fees, (but it's only £30), and we have had seperate inspections, as we registered 18 months apart. As we have both been inspected under EYFS now, from what ofsted said last time (July) we may be able to be inspected together when hubby is due next Oct. (But what with the changes and new companies etc - who knows if that'll happen!!)

The rules did change with regards to assistants being left with children just after hubby regisitered. They weren't allowed at all - not sure if that has changed or not?

We had A LOT of issues with regards to our cert & numbers, with our own child being under 5 when he first registered, and it took months for them to word our certs properly so DH wasn't over his numbers if I tool children out! But finally got it sorted!

I love working with him, and the parents, love the fact there is a male influence, especially with boys! We get on really well, and I have had a lot of people say they couldn't do it.

With regards to our income/taxes etc. I do one accounts record, as only one of us can claim expenses such has gas, elec, water etc, and I didn't know how to split income etc. So once the accounts are all done, I just half everything when I fill out our tax returns. Half income, half expenses = half the profit, so we both are taxed on the same amount. Spoke to my friend who's an accountant, and she said this is fine, as long as all the records are there should either of us get looked at!

For us it is a fantastic arrangement! We are both here all the time for our own children, and he loves seeing our youngest do everything. (She's just 1, and obviously, working he missed out on things with the eldest 2) We both only work a 4 day week, and are both studying towards our foundation degree!

We can go away every weekend camping if we wanted to, and we have one evening a week after school, where it is just us 5, and we can be a 'normal' family!

There are lots of pros & cons, and you need to make sure it'll work for you. There are a lot more men/couples out there now, which is great!

HTH xx

Mrs.L.C
20-10-2010, 10:05 AM
Also wanted to say that with an assistant, you can put their wages down as an expense when you do your tax but you are best seeing what Ofsted will register you for and if he can be left on his own.
Ofsted allowed my OH on his won with the kids as long as we had written consent from parents.

With regards to what Sarah has said - We were told on our inspection that hubby needed to be first aid trained even to do the school run but it seems to vary area to area

Chatterbox Childcare
20-10-2010, 10:41 AM
My hubby has been registered as an assistant to years. He isn't named on my certificate but I have a letter from Ofsted saying that he is acceptable to them (got this from his CRB) and without it my NCMA insurance would be invalid.

I had to tell Ofsted what he would be doing and if the children would be left on their own.

I hold NCMA Employers Liability Insurance (also required for non paid people who help) and it is £5 or free if the assistant is a student.

My assistants have first aid certificates and I have written parental permission for them to look after the children when I am here and if I am not (school runs etc)

On my certificate is says "when working with an assistant can have 9 children, with 6 under the age of 8 etc ...."

Last month my husband gave up work and came to work with me on a self employed basis (also working 2 days as self employed for someone else) and I didn't want to do wages so we registered as a partnership as well. As far as I can tell we just have to complete an additional tax return for the partnership

I am considering both of us registering but cannot see any advantages to it - please let me know if there are some.

Interesting thread..

JCrakers
20-10-2010, 04:26 PM
Couldnt think of anything worse than working with hubbie.....:laughing:

Sorry,not much help but had to post....
hes got the patience of a gnat and he'd drive me potty under my feet all day :rolleyes:

xx

nokidshere
20-10-2010, 06:18 PM
Couldnt think of anything worse than working with hubbie.....:laughing:

Sorry,not much help but had to post....
hes got the patience of a gnat and he'd drive me potty under my feet all day :rolleyes:

xx

LOL not sure I can yet :laughing: just thinking about the possibilities!

Jayse74
21-10-2010, 01:18 AM
I dont post alot on here but I thought my input might help, or not lol.

I have been working with my partner who has been a childminder for 3years now. She wanted to work in childcare for many years and took the plunge to train up and get registored. I will say its brilliant, all of my freinds thought it was silly at the time but soon changed their minds when they realised we no longer argue or fallout over daft things. We work as a team and our relationship is more stronger now than ever. The only downside after all this time is our lovely goverment and all these cuts! Nearly all of our mindee's have parents who work but claim tax credits so im a little worried they could all just up and leave. I dont know what I will do let alone my missus. She has more qualifications than I do but that isnt the point! This has been the best career path ive ever had and I really dont want to do anything else.