In the household staffing arena, it is very common for families to express their appreciation for valued service with an end of year monetary bonus. Household employers often have the following questions:

Household employers are not legally obligated to pay for ANY holidays or time off. It is true, however, that some baseline provision of paid holidays is a general expectation of household employees. Many nannies, especially those working without a written work agreement in place, worry about their income during the busy holiday season. Will they receive pay on holidays? Will they be paid for those regular days when they are not needed due to holiday travel or entertainment?

Household employers in San Francisco California have local, city employment ordinances they must comply with, in addition the California Wage Order 15, California EDD taxation, and Federal tax and labor law.

Household employers in New York directly affected by Hurricane Sandy have until November 14, 2012 to file and pay Quarter 3 2012 employment taxes via NYS-45. "Directly affected" is defined in the notice linked below.

There is no extension for NYS-1 withholding tax payment deadlines.

Sharing with you an article prepared by a CPA as part of an October series titled "Women, Work and Money." The series is sponsored by a generous grant from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.

The IRS has issued interium guidance and a detailed FAQ on changes to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) application process. An ITIN is a number similar to a Social Security number which is issued by the IRS to taxpayers who are not eligible for Social Security numbers but need a tax identification number for tax filing and other purposes. Household employees who are not eligible for a SSN are almost always aliens working without valid US work authorization. Families who hire these undocumented workers are in violation of US immigration law and are still legally responsible to report and pay all employment taxes.The IRS is making changes to the ITIN application process in response to documented tax fraud associated with these identification numbers.

A quick update for HomeWork Solutions' clients and their caregivers...

The California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, AB889, which passed through the CA legislature this September was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown.

Did you know that New York State requires that employers provide three paid days personal time per year to a nanny or housekeeper after one year of employment?