Corona Virus and Furlough

Nanny Housekeeper at the sink

Skip to end for Latest  Uk Government Update - 11th May, 2020 ⇒

"Should I stay or should I go?"

The rock band 'The Clash' asked this in 1982 and it's currently a very pertinent question for nannies and other domestic employees.

Here follows our latest update and our understanding of the situation regarding:

Covid, social distancing measures and impact on nannies and other private staff who could possibly be ‘furloughed’.

The UK government has now imposed severe restrictions on the movement of people and the contact between people, known as ‘social-distancing’. What does this mean for the jobs of nannies and other private domestic staff?
To our understanding, and we are not claiming to be experts here!, social distancing means that you should stay home if you are able to work from home.

Nannies and private domestic staff cannot work from home, therefore on that basis they ought to continue to go to work. We understand that this is expected, except in the case where there is a real and specific Health & Safety concern. As we understand it this means :

• Where there is a vulnerable person living with the employee or if a member of the employer’s household is vulnerable. Where vulnerable is defined as, for example anyone elderly (over 60 years), pregnant, diabetic, asthmatic, has cancer impaired immunity/ chronic illness/condition.
• Also, if the employee needs to travel to work by public transport, unless they are viewed as a Key Worker, taking public transport is seen as too high risk – to society not just to the person commuting.

UK Government's Job Retention Scheme to help save jobs.

The UK government (Chancellor Rishi Sunak) has stepped in to try to protect employees’ jobs through a ‘Job Retention Scheme.’ For employers, if their employee can no longer work for them, due to the impact of the Covid virus, arising from economic or social distancing problems then they are being offered the possibility of ‘Furloughing’ their nanny/ employee instead of making them redundant. Furloughing is a new term and a new idea which Boris Johnson (who we just heard also now has Corona Virus!) took from USA, allegedly; so it is something which we are all now trying to learn about and understand.
If you would like to furlough your employee, then as long as certain conditions are met, the government will pay 80% of their wages, up to £2,500 per month, for some months. You would need to send your employee a ‘Notice of Furlough’, it is a formal legal agreement. One of the criteria to be eligible for Furlough is that an employee must be on PAYE. The amount the employee may receive whilst Furloughed is determined by your monthly PAYE income as of 28th February 2020. Very unfortunately, if you started a new job after that time, you probably cannot access this government support (but check, as the situation is still evolving).

Nannies still need jobs and Families still need Nannies!

Many nannies and other private staff are happy to have a job at this time and are taking full precautions and continuing to go to work, unless advised otherwise.

Kinder Nannies and Staff has families who are offering temporary jobs and families offering full or part time live in jobs – which lessen the risk of exposure to the corona virus.

If you need help at home, or if you are looking for a job, please get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you, whether you are a private staff / nanny employer or a nanny or private staff employee.

Remember! keep washing hands, keep disinfecting surfaces, wash your clothes more regularly, keep your distance from family even at home and do not touch your face unless you have just washed your hands thoroughly!

Stay well everyone...!

Want to know the latest update on measure re Covid-19 :

Latest update from UK Government for Pandemic rules ⇒