Knowledge Center

Household Employees

• Emergency Nanny Income During a Pandemic

  19 March 2020 Summary Over the last several days, attempts to contain and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have severely disrupted everyday life in the USA. Worries are running the gamut from, “Where can I find toilet paper?” to “I can’t work, I’m not being paid, how can I pay for toilet paper?”… Read more »

• Is it legal for a nanny to be employed by a family office?

  What is a family office? The first step to understanding the difference between being employed by a family and family office employment is to understand the purpose of a family office. A family office may be an advisory firm that focuses on private wealth management or a separate legal entity that has been created to manage often… Read more »

• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overtime Rules and Domestic Employment

  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 »

• I Want to Net a Take Home Pay of $600 a Week. A Family Just Offered Me a Job, but Listed a “Gross” Pay Rate, What Does That Mean?

  Many household employees expect to negotiate a “net wage” or “net take home pay” agreement with their employer. The net take home pay agreement is an unfamiliar concept for many nanny employers, and often the new employer does not fully understand the financial implications of a net pay agreement with the employee. A lack of... Read more »

• Great Options for Nanny Health Insurance Benefits

  More and more we’re getting nannies asking about how to get health insurance built into their compensation packages; we’re realizing many more employers asking how they can help too. That’s fantastic! Just knowing how to go about doing it is where things get confusing. Let's consider the question: what's a good option for nanny health... Read more »

• I Want to Apply for Unemployment Benefits. Will I Get Them?

  Your nanny family let you go. You think to yourself: how do I get unemployment benefits? The working arrangement between you and the family is considered employment at-will under U.S. common law unless the written work agreement specifies a term of contract (which is a horrible idea). In broad terms, at-will employment means that employment is… Read more »

• Why Does My Nanny Family have to Pay Me Hourly? I Want a Salary.

  You landed a new job but you’re getting paid by the hour. You can’t help but ask yourself: “why does my nanny family give me hourly pay? I want a salary.” Nannies and other domestic employees are classified under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as non-exempt. The term non-exempt employee refers to a worker who IS subject to the… Read more »

• Why Professional Nannies Want to be Paid Legally

  In the “nanny world,” the temptation to accept a job that pays CASH (off the books, no payroll or income tax reporting) is faced by every nanny. After all, who LIKES to pay taxes? Professional nannies, however, understand nanny tax compliance and know that being paid legally is ultimately in their own best interest. Unemployment... Read more »

• What payroll taxes does a nanny, or other household employee, pay?

  Nanny payroll taxes, what are they?  First it is important to understand that the so called “nanny taxes” apply to ALL household employees, not just nannies. The proper collection and remittance of payroll taxes protects the employer and the employee from the possibility of penalties and interest associated with unpaid back taxes. The employer is... Read more »