Caregiver or Nanny Pay Stubs: Are they required?

Did you know that 39 states have now passed laws requiring employers to provide itemized pay stubs to their employees? Why all the attention to nanny pay stubs?

There has been a slew of legislation at the state level in the last decade focused on “Wage Theft Prevention” – essentially employers either not paying for all hours worked, not paying overtime, or taking unauthorized deductions from a pay check.

Laws mandating that employers provide employees with a pay stub recognize that without a pay stub, it’s much harder for the worker to tell if they’re being paid for all hours and if the deductions are right. Generally speaking, the itemized pay stub should include:

• Employer name and address (some require the employer’s EIN also)
• Employee’s name
• The dates covered by the paycheck
• The date of the paycheck
• The pay rate for regular hours and overtime hours
• The number of regular hours and overtime hours paid
• The gross wage computed (amount before any deductions)
• Itemized list of all deductions
• The net pay (take home, the amount of the check or direct deposit)
• Year-to-date accruals for all dollar amounts in addition to pay period amounts

Typical Deductions:

• Social Security and Medicare taxes, sometimes referred to as FICA
• Federal Income Tax
• State Income Tax
• Local Income Tax
• Other state taxes authorized by law, typically employee contributions to disability insurance

Other less common deductions from a household employee’s wage include employee contributions to health insurance and employee contributions to a retirement savings plan.

Also, if an employee owes their state or the federal government money for things like unpaid income tax, unpaid property taxes or fines an employer may be required to “garnish” your paycheck. This is a court order the employer must follow until the debt is paid. The employee can go to court and ask for the amount to be lowered if what is being taken is believed to be too high for you to be able to survive.

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Last updated: May 1, 2016

Disclaimer: The information provided here is believed to be true as of the date of publication. This information is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind.