Thinking of taking on Assistant

[daisychain0208]

Hi

I was hoping someone could give me a little bit of advice.

I have had one of my parents ask me to look after both of her children for an extra 3 days per week, but as I am already at my 3 under 5's quota i am sure that ofsted wont give me a variation to include an extra 2 children taking me to 5 under 5's!!

So to solve the problem and not lose the children i am thinking of taking on an assistant. I have someone in mind who is an ex nneb nanny and is really nice, I know she will need a new crb doing but other than that not sure what else she will need.

I also am unsure on what to pay her per hour as I will only need her for 9 hours a week... Also would I need to register for PAYE?

Any guidance would be appreciated xx

[sarah707]

Your assistant will be able to work as self employed so long as she is free to look for work elsewhere (that is the definition recently given to me by the tax office).

There is no guarantee that Ofsted will give you extra children if you have an assistant and you may need planning permission to go over your 6 under 8 quota so that will need checking.

if your assistant is going to be alone with children you will need specific permission from Ofsted, permission from parents and the assistant will need a paed first aid certificate.

As you said, your assistant will also need a CRB check before being left with children.

You also need to consider what you would do if your assistant was ill or fell ill during the time you need her to work because you are over numbers.

I hope this helps get you started :D

[Lick'le Oakes]

You need to pay her the minimum wage which is 5.93 you not have to pay Ni etc if she earns less than £97 per week.

She will need CRB and if you leave children alone with her like school run etc "for short periods of time" she will need safeguarding children course as well as first aid.
You don't have to register as an employee if she earns the £97 per week either. Ofsted have to give you permission aswell as the parents to say their children can be with her, but for me it was worth all this.
It is great to have an adult conversation, an extra pair of hands and eyes. It is harder work as for me to pay the assistant I had to take on more children, which means more work and more paperwork. Which because I have more children even with her here I can't do it in the daytime.

[daisychain0208]

Hi Ladies

Thanks for sending me this information its brilliant!

The only other question that I have is would Ofsted allow me to have an assistant before I have my first inspection??

Thanks xx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

You need to pay her the minimum wage which is 5.93 you not have to pay Ni etc if she earns less than £97 per week.

She will need CRB and if you leave children alone with her like school run etc "for short periods of time" she will need safeguarding children course as well as first aid.
You don't have to register as an employee if she earns the £97 per week either. Ofsted have to give you permission aswell as the parents to say their children can be with her, but for me it was worth all this.
It is great to have an adult conversation, an extra pair of hands and eyes. It is harder work as for me to pay the assistant I had to take on more children, which means more work and more paperwork. Which because I have more children even with her here I can't do it in the daytime.

I think it would be good practice for them to have a Safeguarding Certificate but it is not compulsory

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I can't see why not but if they would up your numbers could be another question

[Monkey1]

Your assistant will be able to work as self employed so long as she is free to look for work elsewhere (that is the definition recently given to me by the tax office).

There is no guarantee that Ofsted will give you extra children if you have an assistant and you may need planning permission to go over your 6 under 8 quota so that will need checking.

if your assistant is going to be alone with children you will need specific permission from Ofsted, permission from parents and the assistant will need a paed first aid certificate.

As you said, your assistant will also need a CRB check before being left with children.

You also need to consider what you would do if your assistant was ill or fell ill during the time you need her to work because you are over numbers.

I hope this helps get you started :D

Sarah does that still count if they do more hours, ie between part and full time?...as long as they can look for something else if they want to?

[sarah707]

Sarah does that still count if they do more hours, ie between part and full time?...as long as they can look for something else if they want to?

That's what I was told about 2 weeks ago.

he said it's not about days / hours worked or about money earned.

So long as an assistant is free to look elsewhere for work (whether he wants to look for work elsewhere or not) then he can be self employed.

I got him to clarify it a few times because I wanted to be absolutely right.

I suggest anyone who is unsure rings HMRC next week for clarification but that's what my contact said :D

[Monkey1]

Thank you Sarah!

[flowerpots]

Hi Ladies

Thanks for sending me this information its brilliant!

The only other question that I have is would Ofsted allow me to have an assistant before I have my first inspection??

Thanks xx

my cm friend was told last week, by ofsted, that they are now coming out to see anybody requesting variations (even with assistant) if they havent had an inspection and sometimes even if they have. hth

xxxxx

[daisychain0208]

Hi

I spoke to Ofsted and they have said that I can apply for an assistant and they will not do a separate visit. They will just do my normal inspection which apparently wont be till January! :eek:

[shazza06]

hI .I`m suddenly inundated with work for sept plus current parent wants me to take on a sibling but only from nov and have a baby wanting to start from sept so my numbers will be 4 mindees [3 babies] on one day so am comtemplating taking on an assistant and have only just had an inspection, will they need to come out again to see the assistant as ive been told i wont have another inspection for another 4 years as i have outstanding , how long does the process take with OFSTED regarding registering an assistant and is it hard work to go through process..what does the assistant actually need to have apart from crb and can i get one done through OFSTED for them? .. really want to take on more kids as i have really lovely families looking to start and finding it really hard to turn them away