Working with other childminders

Childminding can be a solitary occupation, where for long periods of the day you’re the only adult in the house. Many childminders make sure that they get out and meet with other childcare professionals during the day, at playgroups, drop-ins, and visits to libraries and children’s centres. This has a great benefit for the children too, as they meet and mix with other children of different ages.

Childminding assistants

As your childminding business grows, you might decide to take on an assistant to help you offer care to more children. Childminding assistants can also offer extra care for children with additional needs.

If you’re planning to work with an assistant, you’ll need to register with HMRC as an employer. This is because any assistants must be on your payroll. There’s advice and guidance on HMRC website or you can contact them Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm on 0300 123 1083.

Any assistants you employ over the age of 23 must also be paid the living wage. Read more about employing a childminding assistant in MyPACEY.

If you become an employer you should also check your responsibility for pensions auto-enrolment. Login to MyPACEY to read more about pensions.

As an employer by law you must also hold Employer’s Liability Insurance. PACEY Practitioner Insurance is automatically included in your PACEY membership and provides Public Liability and Employer’s Liability cover, arranged and administered by Morton Michel Ltd and underwritten by QBE UK Limited.

Policies and procedures

Any childminding assistants working with you need to be fully aware of the policies and procedures in your childminding setting and how they are implemented. They should be encouraged to undertake training to keep up to date.

Childcare on Domestic Premises (England only)

One option to help you grow your business and increase the number of places you can offer to children in England is to convert your childminding registration to childcare on domestic premises (CoDP).

Childcare on domestic premises is where five or more people come together to work in a home-based setting at any one time. A CoDP setting can sometimes feel like a “mini nursery”. It will usually have all the advantages of a larger group of children learning together, but still with the “home from home” feel of a childminding setting.

You can apply to spend some of your time running childcare from non-domestic premises as long as some of your provision is on domestic premises. Non-domestic premises include places like nurseries, church halls, parts of a school and classrooms. You need to follow the same requirements as your original registration. You can find more information here: apply for approval to work on non-domestic premises using the EYA form.

These providers can spend up to 50% of their time working on approved non-domestic premises.

Head over to Business Smart for all the information you need about Childcare on Domestic Premises.

Getting your insurance right

One important thing to remember about CoDP is that you need to ensure that your insurance is adequate to cover you and your staff, including volunteers or students. Email us at support@pacey.org.uk and we can provide details of our insurance partner.

Business Smart

You’ll find a collection of ideas, inspiration and tools to help new and existing childcare practitioners develop and maintain a sustainable business. From employing assistants, to working in partnership, you’ll find everything you need to grow your business.