Many nannies have expressed concern about the potential hassle involved with being paid in childcare vouchers, so we have put together this step-by-step guide:
* Childcare vouchers are just a different way of paying you. Your salary will not change if your employer uses vouchers, nor will the amount of tax and NI they pay on your behalf. However, they will be able to save money on their own NI payments, in some cases as much as 2,000 per year.
Childcare vouchers can only be used to pay for childcare.
* To be able to use vouchers the parent needs to be employed, and their own employer needs to set up a childcare voucher scheme.
* There are two types of childcare vouchers available: paper vouchers and electronic vouchers. Your employer's employer will use either one or the other, and the mechanics of the two are slightly different.
The vouchers are issued directly to your employer from their employer. If electronic vouchers are used, the value of these will be deposited into a 'virtual' account which is held with the voucher provider. If paper vouchers are used, these will be either handed directly to your employer, or sent in the post.
If you are not already registered with a childcare voucher company a welcome pack will be sent out to your employers with a registration form for their nanny to fill in.
When you register you are required to provide the voucher company with a copy of the approvals certificate you have gained for the approval scheme.
If paper vouchers have already been issued these need to be included when you send in the registration form.
Once the voucher company has received the registration form, they will issue you with a unique service provider number.
If electronic vouchers are used your employer will authorise the transfer of the value of the vouchers from their virtual account into one that has been set up for you. Once the childcare voucher provider has received confirmation of transfer, they will issue payment to the value of the vouchers.
* Then you will have the option of being paid either by BACS or by cheque.
It will take approximately three days for the BACS payment to clear into your bank account.
* One of the main concerns raised by nannies is whether childcare vouchers will mean that your salary arrives late. We spoke to one of the childcare voucher providers, ACCOR Services, who said that initially there will be a slight delay, but once the account is up and running, it should operate smoothly. You may wish to speak to your employer about moving your payday to offset any possible delays.
* For information about childcare vouchers contact ACCOR services on 0207 887 1249.
