When your household employee – whether a nanny, housekeeper, senior caregiver or other – leaves your employment many states require that you pay out her earned but unused vacation time. Generally, it doesn’t matter if the separation of employment is voluntary or involuntary. If you have a separate bank for sick time, that is excluded… Read more »
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules and domestic employment are often misunderstood by the household employer. The temptation is to either agree to a weekly “salary”, agree to “average hourly rate” (pay $15 an hour for 45 hours for example) and or to average weeks (pay bi-weekly and average the two weeks hours to… Read more »
The Virginia Department of Revenue is requiring e-filing of employer withholding tax returns and payments. Here are some tips for filing and paying the Virginia employer withholding tax. Household employers find that eForms is an easy and intuitive filing scheme. Whether you have little to no computer experience or you are an expert, eForms is the… Read more »
Direct hiring of senior caregivers by families continues to increase, and families have questions about minimum wage, overtime rules for senior home care workers, and questions about what constitutes payable hours during the care day. Senior Home Care Overtime Law and Minimum Wage The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies minimum wage and overtime rules… Read more »
Household employers will incur significant incorrect Form W-2 penalties if there are name and Social Security number mismatch problems. The Social Security Administration returns incorrect forms W-2 (name and Social Security number mismatch problems) to employers for corrections. The Internal Revenue Service assesses penalties to household employers filing Forms W-2 with mismatched names and Social… Read more »
Our wonderful nanny will be leaving in September when our son begins full time school. How do we help her with a letter of recommendation? The nanny’s letter of recommendation from her former employer is an important part of her “Nanny Portfolio,” a collection of materials including her resume, work history, educational certifications, and examples… Read more »
According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, one third of seniors aged 65 and over need some assistance with the activities associated with daily living. Facing the need for senior home care is often greeted with resistance and disappointment by the senior herself, and concern and worry on the part of her family members. Before an… Read more »
What Household Employer Tax Breaks Can Families Leverage? There are two popular household employer tax breaks for families to make care more affordable. A family may only use up to $6,000 paid to a nanny or senior caregiver (qualified expenses) in any particular year. These tax breaks are not income-restricted. They do require, however, that… Read more »
