Morning:
6°c
Nanny 'paid a low wage' by Tory candidate
Miranda Bryant29 Apr 2010
A NANNY claimed she was paid £2.50 an hour - about half the minimum wage - by a Tory parliamentary candidate to care for his children.
Maham Hashmi, 27, got the job to look after the three children of Alex Story, candidate for Wakefield, after responding to an ad on the internet for a babysitter.
The student, originally from Italy, started working for Mr Story and his wife Nadine at their Wapping home in January, but left for a better paid position after she realised how little she had earned.
She said: "I felt like a slave. What they were paying was outrageous."
Mr Story, a former Olympic rower, said: "Have you tried to hire a nanny in London?"
His wife, an opera singer, said: "Sorry, I have been told not to say anything."
Reader views (9)
Interesting Article
A bit of clarification would help otherwise this turns out to be yet another example of British trashy tabloid journalism.
1) Was this lady paid as a Nanny (i.e. had Norland training or equivalent - which takes a year or so) or as a Baby sitter (usually done by a teenager looking for a part-time job and thus just needs to be sentient and able to pick up a phone to call for help)
2) So how many hours did she actually work? well according to other news stories it was 26.5 hours for which she earned £91.25 - the first 2 weeks were at £2.50 per hour and the balance at £5.00 per hour once she had passed the two weeks "training period" where she had agreed to work for £ 2.50 an hour.
3) If you do the mathematics it seems that she worked for 2 weeks as a trainee (14 days) and then 11 days for £5.00 an hour i.e. 25 days in total which excluding weekends is a month.
4) If my calculations are correct this means that she worked an hour a day for one month as a "nanny" i.e. a baby sitter so it was probably to give Mr Story's wife an hour's break a day from her 3 young children.
5) Did she declare the money to the tax authorities or was it just cash in hand.
Micky Allen
- Micky Allen, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa, 10/05/2010 09:42
Report abuse
Veritas Noire, Purley
Selective interpretation, eh? If you read what I wrote sans red tinted glasses I was asking for clarification - part time babysitter making a few quid on the side as practiced throughout modern history, or someone EMPLOYED as a nanny?
Both were indicated - but you weren't interested in that were you, just scoring points. I'm sure you feel you scored, so enjoy. It's much, much easier to impose your own biases into what I asked than to take it at face value, isn't it.
It is valueless - but - do enjoy! Empty pleasure for empty idealism. After all, there's so little for your side to crow about these days.
- Rogan, Irving, 04/05/2010 04:10
Report abuse
She should be thankful she's got a job.
I see she's not originally from here too.
Now she understands we are not a soft touch and a meal ticket.
- Anthony, Esher, Surrey, 30/04/2010 12:57
Report abuse
Vote Tory & this how they operate. Remember their last time in government: Pound devalued, interest rates sky high (helps the savers & the rich but punishes the average working class who need to borrow), poll tax riots...etc. Be warned.
- Rich/Poor, London, EU, 30/04/2010 10:20
Report abuse
@ Rogan. Are you saying that childcare does not merit the minimum wage? Or is it that possibly wealthy people or maybe just Tories shouldn't have to obey the law and pay it? Perhaps you don't agree with the concept at all and the Nanny, not babysitter, but Nanny should be happy with a few crumbs and a cup of water? Please elaborate, but if your view is the latter and you are happy to receive a pittance for a hard day's work, I need some gardening doing.
- Veritas Noire, Purley, 30/04/2010 10:20
Report abuse
What are their most precious possessions - I would have thought their children and yet they wanted to pay as little as possible to the person they employed to look after them.
- Alison, Cheshunt, Herts, 30/04/2010 09:38
Report abuse
Welcolm to the new Minimum wage of a Cameron Government!!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 29/04/2010 19:05
Report abuse
Do babysitters merit 'minimum wage'? Was it a full time job as a nanny? Are there people who get paid to search for snippets like this that can be blown out of proportion by the overly class-conscious snobs of the left?
- Rogan, Irving, 29/04/2010 17:06
Report abuse
They are Tories for goodness sake. Sounds about right. I expect this young lass has been told she should know her place, after all she's only a skivvy to them.
- valdaniels, Mijas Costa Spain, 29/04/2010 16:37
Report abuse
