Nannies, Mothers helps and Maternity nurses

How we work
Peek-a-boo always have very good nannies, mothers helps and maternity nurses available. At the moment we have over a 1500 nannies registered on our books. We interview our nannies in person, take up references, request or apply for CRB checks. We also run First aid and life saver courses for our nannies.

Our nannies are mainly from the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, Eastern Europe and Australasia

We have permanent live in/daily nannies and also temporary nannies available to work from 1 day up to 6 months. Peek-a-boo also offer families baby-sitters available on short notice.

Hiring a carer
Qualifications are not the only things that make a good carer. A lot of carers have no formal qualifications - just a lifetime of experience, which should be held with the same respect. Carers range from newly qualified, to people returning to work after bring up their own families. From the CVs provided by Peek-a-boo you will be able to see what qualifications and or experience each Nanny has. The best advice when hiring a carer is to speak to as many people as possible with some experience - friends, nannies and your partner. We are here to consult you so please contact us for a more in depth assessment of what to consider before going ahead with the procedure.

The procedure:

1. Please call us to express an interest to register with us. Ask any questions you may have and we will go through everything with you.

2. You will be sent information, registration form and terms and conditions by email/post as per your request. You can also download our registration form to the left in the menu and send it to us. We require you to also pay us the registration fee of £58.75 (inc VAT) over the phone, via a cheque or via BACS.

2. Within a few days (usually a lot quicker) you will be sent, by email (preferably) or by post, candidates that we think you may like.

3. After reading through the files, please get back to us ASAP and tell us which one/ones you'd like to meet with. Please note that our good nannies get snapped up in no time so if you see one or more you like, be quick.

4. The candidate will come for an interview with you, this usually happens in your home or at your work. Sometimes this is done over the phone if you and/or the nanny as for this. Please call us or e-mails us after the interview to let us have some feed back on the candidate.

5. If you liked the candidate you can either ask her/him back for a second interview, ask her/him for a trial or offer her/him the job. We prefer you to make an official offer through the agency.

6. If the candidate accepts the offer, you'll sign a contract between you (we are happy to provide you with one and help with the contract details), set a start date and make other necessary arrangements. If the candidate does not accept the offer, we'll continue looking for someone else.

The interview

Whether the interview is over the phone or in person, the most important thing is to get the knowledge that this au-pair is someone you can work with and that she is someone that you will be able to trust with your children. We have set out some guidelines of what to ask here..

• What are their experiences? Ask about the children and families they have worked with before and ask them to tell you about good and bad situations she has experienced
• It is important that you and the carer have discussed your detailed requirements.
• Talk about your expectations of the nanny and ask her about her expectations of you.
• What are their hobbies and what do they do on their spare time?
• Is there a boyfriend/husband?
• Ask her exactly how they see the job. Ask how important independence is to the carer.
• Ask about their education and what it involved and how they enjoyed it?
  
• What are their future plans?
  
• What exactly will their duties be?
• Will there be any housework involved?
• What are the hours of work?
• Make sure you discuss pay.
• Will the carer be driving the family car?
• If so who will be insuring and paying for it?
• Will she/he want to have friends visiting?
• How would the carer react if your child were injured?
• The parent needs to be comfortable that the carer really is capable of handling every situation.
• It is clearly important that your children meet your prospective nanny and you have an opportunity to see her interacting with them. However try to arrange for them only to be there for part of the interview so as not to distract you.
• Tell your prospective employee exactly what your children's routine is and explain the way you like things structured
• Talk to her/him about discipline, do you mind if she/he shouts at the children? Make sure her views coincide with yours.
• Let her/him know how much TV you allow your offspring to watch. Find out what activities she/he enjoys doing - does it coincide with your children's activities?
• How would she/he entertain your children in the third consecutive wet week of the summer holidays?
  

Your legal responsibilities

PAYE and NI

If you employ a nanny in the UK and you pay her more than £105 per week (tax year 2008/2009) you have the same legal responsibilities as a commercial employer and the law requires you to:

• Register as an employer
• Set up and operate a PAYE (Pay As You Earn) scheme on your nanny's behalf
• Keep tax records on her behalf
• Provide your nanny with regular payslips
• Provide her with an employment contract
• Pay regular income tax and National Insurance Contributions
• Pay employer's National Insurance Contributions
• File an employer's annual tax return

These obligations also apply:

• If your nanny earns less than £90 per week in your employment but more than £105 in total (e.g. if she has two part-time jobs)
• In short-term employment (i.e. a week or longer)
• To any employment taking place in the UK - irrespective of the country of origin of the nanny or employer

Failure to register as an employer if you are paying your nanny above the weekly threshold is an offence.

The procedure is not as daunting as you may think, you can contact your local Inland Revenue office and they will send you all the necessary paperwork, along with a help line telephone number. If this still sounds unbearable then there are a number of payroll agencies that can do the job for you. We suggest you contact www.nannytax.co.uk as they have a very good track record and a superb reputation. Please mentioned Peek-a-boo Nannies if you do register with them.

Contract
Peek-a-boo strongly recommend that you draw up a proper contract between you and the nanny/mothers' help or other type of carer. A contract provides security in case of disputes and it will help to clarify many of the issues and points you may not have considered. We will provide you with an example contract if you wish so.

Check-up
Peek-a-boo will interview, screen and check all candidates. However, speaking to someone who has employed your nanny/mothers' help previously can often provide the final peace of mind you need before making you final decision. Please contact us for the candidates references and certificates if you have not yet received them.

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Feel free to Contact us
  Telephone: 0207 600 9880