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 »
SUMMARY: State insurance regulations determine when household employers workers’ compensation and disability insurance are required. The rules vary by state. We recommend meeting with a licensed insurance broker to review all of your insurance needs when you become a household employer. HWS has a licensed insurance partner who will provide HWS clients a no obligation… Read more »
What happens if I don’t pay for my nanny taxes? Failure to report wages paid to a domestic service worker – including a nanny, senior caregiver, housekeeper and more – and failure to pay the nanny taxes compromises the validity of your personal income tax return. These taxes are included on your personal federal income… 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 »
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states that due to the nature of their work and duties, nannies and other household workers are employees, are hourly workers, and are covered by minimum wage and overtime laws. The FLSA requires employers to maintain accurate and complete contemporaneous time records for tracking hours worked by an employee. When… Read more »
There are some practical ways an employer can help their nanny build a retirement savings account. The SEP-IRA Employers can set up a SEP-IRA to help build a retirement savings account for their nanny. The contributions are 100% funded by the employer. Sometimes employees will ask to ‘defer’ a raise and have the $50 or so… 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 »
