Labour guides · United Kingdom

A nanny or other employee in a UK home

A nanny employed by the family is an employee. The household registers with HMRC before the first payday. HousePay applies the age-banded minimum, paid holiday, and Category A National Insurance for a full calendar month.

Figures loaded on 8 October 2026. Ireland is a nationality for the UK right-to-work check. It is not a separate wage market.

A coat and a small bag on a bench in a quiet home hallway — The family is the employer. The record starts before the first payday, with HMRC registration and the right-to-work check.

The wage

From 1 April 2025: £12.21 an hour at 21 and over. £10.00 at 18 to 20. £7.55 under 18.
From 1 April 2026: £12.71, £10.85, and £8.00. SI 2026/357. When age is omitted, HousePay uses the 21-and-over rate.

The household enters the wage. An amount above the floor for that age is kept. An amount below the floor blocks the issue of the payslip until it is corrected. The rest of the household record stays in use.

Holiday

Paid holiday is 5.6 weeks a year, capped at 28 days. Untaken statutory holiday is paid when the job ends. There is no gratuity formula in the engine.

For the employee, the holiday entitlement is part of the employment, not a favour recorded after the fact. For the employer, paying untaken statutory holiday at the end is a closing item, separate from any private gift.

National Insurance

Category A National Insurance, for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, is worked on a full calendar month. The employee pays 8% between £1,048 and £4,189, and 2% above that. The employer pays 15% above £417.

The employee sees the employee share on the payslip. The employer share is a household cost, recorded with the pay rather than taken from the net as if it were the worker's tax.

Income tax

Income tax is not calculated. It depends on the HMRC tax code, which has to be on the contract before PAYE is deducted. The payslip warns until that code is used. HousePay does not invent a code or a tax table.

Right to work

British and Irish nationals need a passport check on file. Everyone else needs a Home Office share code. A missing share code blocks the payslip. A missing passport check warns. The household chooses the employee's country from the full list, and the code is filled from that choice. Status is not read from a name.

The payslip

The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. A payslip shows the period, and the running total of issued payslips in that tax year up to the period end. Drafts are left out. The employee can follow gross, National Insurance, and net as the year moves. The employer can see the same total without rebuilding the year by hand.

Repairs

Maintenance is a supplier cost, not a wage, and it does not go through National Insurance. Personal repairs to the home are not deducted from income tax. More than £250 needs a full VAT invoice, under the VAT Regulations 1995, regulations 14 and 16. The invoice and the proof sit on the job.

Documents the record can hold

HMRC employer registration.
The employment contract, including the tax code when the household has it.
An itemised payslip.
A Full Payment Submission note.
The right-to-work check.

Other countries: South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United States.