Childminder rate?

NicoleL88

Hi all,

I've been a childminder since February/March 2011 for the same family.

Prior to now I was paid €120 per week for roughly 15/16 hours work per week.

My role entails collecting the children from school (which is a half hour walk for me), bringing them home, helping with homework, making lunches, entertaining them and general upkeep of the kitchen and other areas of the house, as well as ensuring kids to their own jobs too (reading, tidying etc).

However I've been told that come September I will have less hours due to one of the children moving into First Class. That means I'll only have about 11 hours of work per week.

I really feel that since I have been working for them for well over a year and because I do a good job and because I will soon have less hours that I am entitled to ask for a raise, but I find this a very difficult topic to bring up.

I guess what I want to ask is what should I be earning and what is a reasonable increase to ask for?

Many thanks.

Mrs OBumble

How old are you, and how many years work experience have you had since you turned 18?

Can you work out your hourly rate?

Toast4532

What is your hourly rate OP? Ar the figures in your post before or after tax?

As €120 divided by 16 is €7.50 per hour and €120 divided by 15 hours is €8 per hour, they seem to be underpaying you as it is.

Is it cash in hand or is it all above board?

NicoleL88

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

How old are you, and how many years work experience have you had since you turned 18?

Can you work out your hourly rate?

I'm 25. Had about two years experience prior to being 18. I was offered the job by the father as I worked with him in my previous job.

Cash in hand.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

You could mention that you'll miss the extra couple of hours pay and hope they'll keep giving you your current rate, but as it's an informal arrangement it's his prerogative.

NicoleL88

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

You could mention that you'll miss the extra couple of hours pay and hope they'll keep giving you your current rate

No chance of that, the mother pretty much suggested that less hours = less money.

Does anyone know what I should be making?

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

NicoleL88 wrote: »

No chance of that, the mother pretty much suggested that less hours = less money.

Does anyone know what I should be making?

Unlucky

If you have your fetac level 5 in childcare, you could apply to the creches, the wage ranges from minimum wage to about €10 per hour.

If your not qualified and since your paid cash in hand you don't really have a set rate.

SCOOP 64

How many children?
find out how much would a creche charge for same amount of children and hours?
give you some idea, obviously you will have to charge less then creche.

NicoleL88

Sorry, left that part out, there are two children ages 7 and 9.

I've sent an email off to Cork City Childcare Company so maybe they might be able to give me more information. I also saw that they offer a Quality Awareness Programme free of charge which would be useful as I don't have any official qualifications.

Mrs OBumble

Has anyone got an references about whether it's even legal to work cash-in-hand in in in-home childcare in the child's house? My moderator-fingers are twitching on the close-thread button, but there's a wee voice telling me that there are some exemptions ...

tatli_lokma

Mrs O, AFAIK the exemptions apply to childminding in your own home. So if you set up as a child minder you can earn (I think) €15000 tax free and pay your own PRSI/ liability insurance etc etc. However if you mind the children in their home, the parents are essentially your employer and are required to meet minimum legal requirements of minimum wage/ annual leave/ pay PRSI etc.

Paying cash in hand in either situation is not permitted to the best of my knowledge.

OP, I am not sure of your circumstances as to why you are agreeing to work cash in hand, but my advice is to look for something where you are officially employed. Otherwise you could find yourself when both kids are further in school with no job, no social welfare contributions and no rights. For your employers to employ you legally, and pay PRSI for you would only cost them about €30 a week more. Perhaps rather than look for a payrise, ask if formalising your situation could be done. That way you won't end up out in the cold in a few years if the job is gone and you have no access to social welfare benefits.

joeguevara

Illegal to work cash in hand in someone else's home. Also think it is illegal to work in a child-minding position without being garda vetted. It happens all the time, but it is the black economy. DO you receive social welfare/benefits on top of the payments?

NicoleL88

Excuse me, but in that case wouldn't babysitting be illegal too?

Mods please close this thread, I've sought advice from multiple outside sources.

tatli_lokma

Babysitting falls under a different set of guidelines, but technically, even money earned babysitting is supposed to be declared as income to revenue.

As for garda vetting - that only applies to HSE registered childminders.

joeguevara

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Babysitting falls under a different set of guidelines, but technically, even money earned babysitting is supposed to be declared as income to revenue.

As for garda vetting - that only applies to HSE registered childminders.

Does it not also apply to people in youth clubs, gaa teams, swimming pools, or anywhere working predominantly with children and/or vulnerable adults? Just asking, don't know either way. But when I was working for a charity bringing disadvantaged kids for a holiday, we all had to get garda vetted.

tatli_lokma

It only applies to those working for registered organisations, so if a charity or club is registered then all people having contact with children via that organisation must be vetted. Many unregistered clubs will also insist on it as it is good practice, but it is not compulsory. You do not need to be garda vetted if you work directly for the parents.

from childminding.ie:

Is Garda vetting compulsory for Childminders?
Under the 2006 Childcare Pre-School Services Regulations, it is compulsory for all HSE notified Childminders – those minding four or more non-related pre-school children – and their employees/assistants to be Gárda vetted

from Garda.ie

Garda vetting is conducted in respect of personnel working in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or student placement capacity in a position in a registered organisation, through which they have unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults. Garda Vetting is conducted only on behalf of registered organisations and is not conducted for individual persons on a personal basis.

so it is actually not possible to get garda vetted if you are working on a personal basis in the childrens home as a childminder.

jack7

as u have no qualifications and are not paying any tax , u have not any right to look for extra. they probably think that they are doing u a favour. U dont say if u are also claiming from Social Welfare aswell.

Neyite

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Has anyone got an references about whether it's even legal to work cash-in-hand in in in-home childcare in the child's house? My moderator-fingers are twitching on the close-thread button, but there's a wee voice telling me that there are some exemptions ...

Its the reverse as far as I know. Revenue allow a person to earn up to €15,000 in their own home as a childminder for a max of 3 children tax free. However if you earn over €15,000, by any amount, you must declare it. You are classified as self employed in this instance.

Where a childminder minds the children in the childrens home, they are classified as an employee, and must pay prsi /USC and are taxable. The employer (the parents) must pay Employer prsi too.

http://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/childcare/guidelines_for_childminders.pdf
http://www.childminding.ie/childminding/faqs/

mollymum

We have 2 children and employ a childminder on a part time basis. She only looks after the children, we do not ask her to do any housework other than that directly related to our children...pick up their toys at the end of the day, fold their laundry (which I wash), heat up meals (I have already prepared them). We pay her 11euro an hour into her hand. She is well worth it, our children are happy with her, she does lots of activities with them, they're never left sitting in front of the TV so it's hard work. I know, I do it myself for half the week.

Mech1

mollymum wrote: »

We have 2 children and employ a childminder on a part time basis. She only looks after the children, we do not ask her to do any housework other than that directly related to our children...pick up their toys at the end of the day, fold their laundry (which I wash), heat up meals (I have already prepared them). We pay her 11euro an hour into her hand. She is well worth it, our children are happy with her, she does lots of activities with them, they're never left sitting in front of the TV so it's hard work. I know, I do it myself for half the week.

all very good, but is she also on the welfare?

SCOOP 64

Mech1 wrote: »

all very good, but is she also on the welfare?

Wouldnt that be the chilminders problem ?

Neyite

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Wouldnt that be the chilminders problem ?

Probably. But also, working in the children's own home classifies the childminder as an employee of the parents, not a self-employed. So the parents have obligations to pay prsi /usc contributions for their employee, and declare the arrangement for tax deductions. That would be of interest to revenue. And I imagine SW would be very interested in the employee.

SCOOP 64

Yeah, but realistically when does this happen.