Occasionally a nanny or other household employee will find themselves in a dispute with an employer, generally a former employer, over unpaid wages. Whether this be overtime that wasn’t properly compensated, failure to meet minimum wage or final wages that were not paid, there exists in every state a mechanism to file an unpaid wage claim and have the state’s Department of Labor Wage and Hour office intervene on his or her behalf. These avenues should be pursued AFTER direct attempts to resolve the situation with the employer have failed.

As a follow up to our previous post about retirement plans, here is some information about 2019 retirement contribution limits. The amounts are indexed for inflation and most have increased this year.

HomeWork Solutions' co-founder Kathy Webb recently participated in a nanny educational program focused around legal nanny payroll. In the course of discussions, attendees were anxious for some concrete examples on how the negotiation of pre-tax benefits for health insurance reimbursement and professional development  could be cost neutral to a family and a big win for the nanny.

Hiring a caregiver is a very personal decision and there is a lot of different information and emotion involved. Because of that, you’ve likely spent a significant amount of time interviewing caregiver candidates to find the “right” fit. Once you have found the right person to hire to help provide care for your dad, now comes the hard work of establishing job descriptions, building solid communication, and managing the person without interfering too much. Micromanagement never yields the results you want, yet it is easy for people to get into this routine. It instead leads to higher turnover and caregivers that are demoralized and unenthusiastic about their work.

If you own a small business, or are a household employer, and want to offer a retirement savings plan to your employees the options can get confusing. Offering a 401(k) can be complicated and expensive, but a SIMPLE IRA might be just right. What is a SIMPLE IRA? Here is a breakdown of how they work and some SIMPLE IRA benefits.

You are going to hire a nanny or senior caregiver soon. You know that interviewing can be tricky, and don't want to make a mistake in this important activity. Before you begin advertising, narrowing down your candidates and starting the interview process, it is important to do some research on what proper protocol is for what questions you can ask and what is taboo. Here are some helpful caregiver interview tips.

Most employers are focused on financial metrics when analyzing their business, which makes sense. In recent years though, more attention has been paid to human resource metrics as well. Monitoring these important KPIs below can help any company, household or not, with ensuring smooth operation.

Is your to-do list getting longer and longer and does it seem like your demands from day to day just never end? We get it. Sometimes there simply isn’t enough time to keep on top of everything.

All employers are required to keep certain records of payroll. Most know about W-4s, I-9s, and paystubs but there are others to watch out for as well. Here are two examples of records you should be keeping if applicable.

Our client Nancy M. came to us with an issue regarding prior cash payments to her mother's caregiver and filing proper tax paperwork.