The following is a guest post from professional Nanny, Cate Matijevich. The views in this article are her's alone. 

In our industry, compensation packages vary significantly by area. In all markets, career nannies strive to be at the top of their field in pay and other forms of compensation, some even consider relocating when they outgrow the ability of their market to meet their value. How do these professionals reach the top of their market, and what makes these top-notch nannies so desirable? Below are a few highlights from my “little gold book”, so called because the tips are worth their weight in gold, and calling it anything else just wouldn’t do it justice.

In a perfect world someone hires another to do a job, they do the job, and are then paid a fair wage. Obviously things aren’t that simple. When thinking through an open position and recruiting for a new employee you might want to start thinking about a “compensation philosophy.” Here are some thoughts to get you started on developing a "compensation philosophy" plan.

If you are a household employer and have an employee working in your home, you have a responsibility to pay and report payroll taxes, which includes filing a Schedule H form with your personal federal tax return. If you paid your employee at least $2,100 in the year, if you withheld Federal Income Taxes, or if you are liable for unemployment taxes you must file this form.

In 2015 a law was passed to start using an inflation adjustment for penalties on labor law violations. Here are some of the penalties for 2019:

Spring break is a time that many families look forward to each year, as it’s a time to relax and connect with each other, either at home or away on a trip. If you have been planning a getaway with your family this spring break, it is important to understand how it will affect your nanny. If she isn’t going along on the vacation with you, do you still have to pay her and is she guaranteed hours?

Most employers these days use some form of “at-will” employment model. What is at-will employment? Simply put, it means that the employment relationship can be terminated at any time with or without notice. This goes for both the employer and employee. An employee quitting is pretty straight forward so we’ll focus on the employer side for this article. As this post does not end here, you’re probably assuming it’s not that simple. You’re right.

Your brother and wife are taking a quick trip and they have asked if it would be ok for you to keep your five-year-old niece for the week. But, you’re working, and your nanny has a responsibility during the day taking care of your children. How should you handle this? Here are some ideas.

For 2019 the Federal mileage reimbursement rate has increased 3.5 cents to 58 cents per mile. This may mean better deductions on business taxes for 2019 but also increased cost if you have a workforce that uses personal vehicles.

If you are considering hiring a new household employee, chances are, you are thinking about the many details that are involved with that. Opening your home and entrusting  your loved ones to a new person is a big step and one that should be taken seriously. There should be much research and caution used. Here are some important things to keep in mind before you consider onboarding a new household employee.

As we are in the thick of the 2018 tax filing season most any news outlet has reports of confusion and frustration stemming from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Here is a quick 2018 tax guide that outlines some of the changes.