Nursery World - What to expect

Nannies need to be more aware of their maternity rights, says Asa Nilsdotter The phone rings in my office; there is a nanny at the other end of the phone nervously asking, 'I have just discovered I'm pregnant. Am I entitled to any maternity leave?' Considering that statutory maternity pay (SMP) was introduced in 1987, I'm surprised at how often I get this type of call.

The phone rings in my office; there is a nanny at the other end of the phone nervously asking, 'I have just discovered I'm pregnant. Am I entitled to any maternity leave?' Considering that statutory maternity pay (SMP) was introduced in 1987, I'm surprised at how often I get this type of call.

Twenty years on, and many nannies still expect to find themselves without any statutory rights.

On closer inspection, this isn't, perhaps, so surprising. As we reported in our nanny pay survey article in January's Professional Nanny, many employers are reluctant to arrange their nanny's maternity pay even though in most cases the direct costs are reimbursed to them by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). And with net wage arrangements still the norm and a large number of employers failing to declare their nanny's wages in full, nannies are still losing out.

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