Childcare vouchers

[rasharoon]

Hi
I've a little boy starting on Tuesday and his Mum has mentioned the possibility of part paying me with Childcare Vouchers from Busybees. I said I would have to look into this as I've no idea how it works.
Can anyone advise on what I need to do and is it easy to manage as I charge weekly.
Thanks as ever.
Rachelle

[sarahnev707]

They have their own website - www.busybees.com

I believe it's all quite easy and saves the parents a fortune!

Sarahx

[miffy]

Hi Rachelle

I have a parent who uses Accor vouchers. I had to register with them, the money is deducted from parents salary (so they save on tax and national insurance) and then the parents have to tell Accor to pay me. I'm paid monthly in advance but I'm sure you can be paid weekly - it's just up to parents to tell the company to pay you.

Have a look on busybees website as Sarah suggests I'm sure their scheme will be similar

Miffy

[rubybubbles]

I've just signed up for busybees the web site is full of info. and fortunately all we have to do is minmal (for a change hehe). I think it will be better as the parent will just be paying my full fee straight into the bank

[ajs]

hi i've just signed up with sodexho
the parents bought the form round i signed it,i photocopied my registration certificate and they sent it away to sodexho
no other paper work involved i'm not entirely sure how it'll work but i think it's all done by email and bank transfer, i'll let you know at the end of the month

[susi513]

AFIK the parent decides how much they want to claim (up to £243 each parent) and this is paid into their voucher account and deducted from their salary. They then have to authorise each payment from their voucher account to the childcarer's account. (Some may use more than one childminder, after school club etc). From our pov its the same as a bank transfer. It will appear at some point in your account and you don't have to do anything. (unless you are using the paper schemes still - in which case you will have to post the voucher or phone the voucher operator to claim your money).

There are implications for the parent in respect of their future entitlement to maternity payments and pension so some parents I've met are dead against the whole idea. Most are happy to claim the vouchers as they don't pay tax or NI on the amount they receive in vouchers because the voucher payments are no longer viewed as part of their salary.

I like the idea, as I like bank transfers, cos I don't like cash payments (never have the right change) and cheques take an age to clear. The only difficulty is if you have different parents using the same scheme. At one time I had 3 parents using Busy Bees. You get an email from Busy Bees to say how much which parent is paying. But when it appears in your account my online statement just says Busy Bees and not the name of the parent/child it refers to. You can log in to your Busy Bees website and check your account, so that's helpful.

Having been paid 13 days late by Busy Bees once, I now tell parents I am happy to give any voucher scheme a trial but if I reserve the right to decline to participate in any voucher scheme if I am not paid on time. I like to make clear to the parent that it remains their responsibility to ensure I am paid by the agreed date and the parent accepts responsibility for payment of any late payment fee due. (although Busy Bees did accept responsibilty for the error and eventually paid my late fees for thte parents concerned).

[angeldelight]

There is a long thread about vouchers in the childminding chat area

Lots of information about all the different vouchers and how they work

I have been paid with them and never had any problem

Everyone seems happy with all the different ones

Angel xx

[mel]

I've not had a problem either but it can take a few days to get the first payment sorted as you have to register etc. I'm registered with accor and no probs as yet.

Mel x

[mrsv8only]

Can u only get the vouchers through ur employer or is there another way for parents to get them ?

Jem x

[angeldelight]

Yes Mel you are right there

I think parents only get them through their employer I have not heard of another way unless someone else knows - sorry not sure about that

Angel xx

[lorraine2767]

Hi

I get paid by vouchers never had any problems at all, but like Angel said I do think you can only get them through your employer.

Lorraine xx

[rasharoon]

Thanks all for your kind words of advice. I have emailed busy bees so am waiting for them to make contact. All sounds quite straight forward and painless.

[hazel2]

hi , i have been paid both by accorr and busy bees vouchers, accorr the more reliable of the two ( or could that of been the parent?) both were paid direct to my bank account and cleared in the same time as a cheque, and you can also log on to their web site to check for in-coming transfers. all in all its great no problems. theres also the fact you do not have to keep asking for your money. ;D

why me!

hazelx

[dchazzle1]

hi im with sodexho, it takes about 4 days for the money to reach your bank account but you get a email to tell you when it has been paid, its a good scheme
chez