In my View - Nannies out of the net

If all agencies spoke of nanny wages as gross, then all nannies would quickly do the same. Nannies and parents alike are confused about net versus gross pay. Let's clear the matter up and make it better for everyone by having every nanny agree a gross salary. But why is a gross salary better?

Nanny jobs start out with a parent needing to find a childcare solution. They look at various type of childcare - nurseries, childminders and nannies. To be able to compare these, parents need to know the cost. Calculating the cost of a nanny is much easier with a gross salary, as it does not matter what tax code the nanny has.

The cost will be gross salary plus employers' National Insurance, plus things like weekly activities, kitty and car mileage payment.

Nannies need to be able to compare jobs, be they in childcare or in other work. If a nanny has two part-time jobs (not uncommon these days) and both jobs are agreed as a net salary, then one employer may end up using all of a nanny's personal tax allowance. The other family pays tax on the full salary, so it costs them more than they imagined.

I also feel that nannies should be seen as childcare professionals. Our employers value the job we do, yet by agreeing a net wage we are saying that we don't understand how everyone else is paid, we only understand our take-home pay. Enough with it! While some nannies may not understand the difference between net and gross, many nannies are highly educated, and many nannies have access to the internet, where you will find calculators which will convert net to gross.

Gross salaries will also tell parents that we are like any other employee. We want employee benefits, we want payslips and PAYE processed correctly. We don't want cash in hand or to be asked whether we can be self-employed. We want to be treated fairly as any other employee. No more net pay.