What is a summer nanny? Are you responsible for the nanny taxes with a summer-only nanny?

A Nanny Tax Case Study

Its true! Ignoring the nanny taxes opens up a whole host of complications and not a single one gets better if you ignore it!

Household employee overtime rules are commonly misunderstood, and often just plain ignored. The vast majority of household employees - nannies, senior caregivers, housekeepers, etc. - are classified as non-exempt (NOT exempt from overtime rules) employees. These household employees must be paid overtime. At the Federal level the rate of overtime pay is determined by whether the household employee lives with the employer or maintains their own separate residence. Live-in domestics are paid for their overtime hours at their regular hourly rate; live-out domestics are paid at 1.5 times their hourly rate for hours over 40 in the 7 day work week. Note MANY states extend the overtime differential of 1.5 times the hourly rate to live in domestics, and some states mandate daily, not weekly, overtime.

However some more skilled household employees - estate managers, head housekeeper or house managers for example - may be considered exempt or hourly employees. This classification is largely depended on the actual work performed and not on the employee's title. This is where the change is coming!

Nanny Wage Reviews

Your nanny is a childcare professional - and should be treated as one. That means as a nanny employer, you need to consider things like:

HomeWork Solutions has facilitated caregiver and nanny background check services for families through its website and sister site NannyVerify.com for nearly two decades. HWS was exceptionally choosy when selecting a background screening partner - we know that the caregivers and nannies will be caring for your children and loved ones and recognize the importance of having a thorough, ethical partner.

Did you know that if you pay a senior caregiver or nanny directly that it’s likely that the law considers your caregiver an employee?

As an employer, you have the responsibility to understand and follow pertinent labor regulations and laws. This includes tracking hours worked each week, paying FICA and overtime, and getting insurance for workers compensation, which will help protect you and the caregiver in case an injury occurs on the job. If you don’t adhere to these laws and instead classify your employee as an independent contractor, you could be liable for misclassification. It could be an incredibly costly mistake that leads to back tax payments and other expensive penalties.

Hiring a nanny is one of the most important things you will ever do and making sure you hire the right person is an incredibly big decision. Here are some of the top interview questions that you should ask a prospective nanny, and if you listen carefully for thoughtful and complete answers, you’ll likely come away with a good idea of who the person is and if they are a good fit for your family. Here are the top 5 childcare job interview questions.

Share This Infographic On Your Site

Millennials, as a whole, are starting to have children, and since raising a child can be expensive, many Millennials choose to work and use childcare services for help. If you’re a Millennial and you’re interested in learning more about childcare services, then check out some of our thoughts below.