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You鈥檙e usually considered the employer of a nanny, housekeeper, gardener or anyone else who works in your home if both:

• you hire them
• they鈥檙e not self-employed or paid through an agency

This means you have certain responsibilities, like meeting the employee鈥檚 rights and deducting the right tax.

Carers and personal assistants

You鈥檙e classed as an employer if you pay a carer or personal assistant directly, even if you get money from your local council (鈥�direct payments鈥�) or the NHS to pay for them.

Ask your local council about organisations that can help with your employer responsibilities, such as recruiting and paying your carer.

Employees鈥� rights

Anyone you employ must:

• have an employment contract
• be given payslips
• not work more than the maximum hours allowed per week
• be paid at least the National Minimum Wage

If they meet the eligibility requirements, they鈥檙e also entitled to things like:

• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Statutory Sick Pay
• paid holiday
• redundancy pay
• a workplace pension

Tax and employing people at home

You must:

• check if the person can work in the UK
• have employers鈥� liability insurance
• register as an employer
• set up and run payroll, or pay someone else to do it on your behalf (even if you pay the employee in cash)
• pay statutory benefits, for example maternity pay and sick pay
• deduct and pay the employee鈥檚 Income Tax and National Insurance contributions

If you employ a nanny and you鈥檙e eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, you can use your childcare account to pay their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions.

Your employee鈥檚 car

There are also rules around:

• paying for mileage if the employee uses their own car for work
• providing the employee with their own car (including tax and insurance)

Au pairs usually live with the family they work for. They are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.

Hiring an au pair

You can hire an au pair if they:

• are from the UK or Ireland
• are from an EU country and have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or are eligible to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme
• have a Youth Mobility Scheme visa

If none of these apply, you need to check the au pair鈥檚 visa conditions for their right to work before hiring them.

If the au pair does not already have a visa, tell them to check if they need a UK visa.

Au pairs from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein need to have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020 to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme. The deadline to apply was 30 June 2021 for most people. They can still apply if they have 鈥榬easonable grounds鈥� for being unable to apply by the deadline - for example, they had an illness or were the victim of domestic abuse.

Paying au pairs

Au pairs are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.

If accommodation is provided by the employer, this will need to be taken into account when calculating the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.

It鈥檚 the responsibility of the employer to keep records proving that they are paying the minimum wage.