Employing a nanny or home carer: your legal duties as an employer

Are you the employer?

gov.uk says you are usually the employer of a nanny if you hire them and they are not self-employed or paid through an agency. If they are paid through an agency, that test does not make you their employer. You cannot ask someone who works for you as an employee to become self-employed to avoid these duties. The same applies to a carer or support worker you employ directly in your home.

Registering with HMRC and running payroll

You must register for PAYE with HMRC if any of these apply to your nanny in the current tax year:

• you pay them £96 or more a week
• you give them expenses or benefits
• they get a pension, or have had another job
• they have received Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit

gov.uk is not consistent here: its PAYE guidance uses £96 a week, which is also where employer's National Insurance starts, while its page on taking on a new employee says you usually need to use PAYE from £129, the lower earnings limit. If you pay £96 or more, register. Register before the first payday, and no more than two months before it. Then run payroll each time you pay them, even if you pay in cash. If none of the triggers apply you do not need to register, but you still have to keep records of what you pay.

National Insurance in 2026/27

Through payroll you deduct the nanny's income tax and National Insurance, and pay employer's National Insurance on top.

• Employer's NI: 15% of weekly pay above £96 (the secondary threshold)
• Employee's NI: 8% of weekly pay above £242 (the primary threshold), up to £967

Most small employers can reduce their NI bill with the Employment Allowance, but gov.uk excludes anyone employed for personal, household or domestic work, like a nanny or gardener. The exception is a care or support worker: if that is who you employ, you can claim it.

Minimum wage, including for live-in nannies and au pairs

Anyone you employ must be paid at least the minimum wage for their age: £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18 to 20 and £8.00 under 18, from 1 April 2026.

The "family worker" exemption is narrower than many older guides say. Since 1 April 2024 it only covers a genuine member of your family who lives in the family home and shares in family tasks. A live-in nanny or au pair who is not family is entitled to the minimum wage, though accommodation you provide can count towards it under set rules.

Workplace pension

Your automatic enrolment duties start when you employ your first member of staff. You must put your nanny into a workplace pension if they are aged 22 or over, under State Pension age, and earn more than £10,000 a year (£192 a week).

Sick pay and maternity pay

A nanny is entitled to Statutory Sick Pay like any other employee. Since 6 April 2026 it is paid from the first day off sick, with no earnings threshold, at the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, for up to 28 weeks. A nanny on £420 a week gets the full £123.25, because 80% of their pay is higher. Check a figure with the sick pay calculator.

If your nanny is pregnant and qualifies, you pay Statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks: 90% of their average weekly earnings for six weeks, then £194.32 or 90%, whichever is lower. On £420 a week that is £378 for six weeks, then £194.32. You can reclaim it from HMRC: 92% as standard, or 109% under Small Employers' Relief if your total Class 1 National Insurance was £45,000 or less in the last complete tax year before the qualifying week, which a household employing one nanny will usually meet. Work through it with the maternity pay calculator.

Holiday, hours and breaks

A nanny is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. Three days a week works out at 16.8 days; the holiday entitlement calculator does the sum for any pattern, including a mid-year start. A part-time nanny is also entitled to pay and benefits pro rata to a full-time one, which the pro rata salary calculator works out.

One rule differs from most jobs. The 48-hour average working week and the night work limits in the Working Time Regulations do not apply to someone employed as a domestic servant in a private household (regulation 19). Holiday and rest breaks still do.

Contract, right to work and insurance

• Written terms: give the main terms in writing on their first day, and the wider written statement within two months.
• Right to work: check they are allowed to work in the UK before they start, by share code, original documents or an identity service provider.
• Insurance: gov.uk says you must have employers' liability insurance when you employ someone in your home. The minimum cover is £5 million.

Notice

After a month in the job, you must give your nanny at least one week's notice. From two years' service it is one week for each full year worked, up to 12 weeks. They must give you at least one week. A contract can set longer notice on either side. The notice period calculator gives the last day.

The minimum wage, sick pay, maternity pay, holiday and notice figures here are also on the UK statutory rates page, with their sources.