The D.C. law firm of Seyfarth Shaw, specializing in Wage & Hour Litigation, reports that Federal lawsuits for unpaid wages and unpaid overtime - know as Wage and Hour Complaints - rose last year to an all time high of 8,126 cases.

The new 2014 Employee Benefit Research Institute survey found that 57 percent of workers have less than $25,000 in total household savings and investments. Two-thirds (68 percent) of those with annual household income of less than $35,000 report less than $1,000 in household savings.

The Dr. Phil Show is no stranger to tackling contemporary relationship and mental health issues in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. This week a woman in the audience asked Dr. Phil "When is the right time to take Mom's car keys?"

We took a difficult call recently from an adult daughter of an elderly couple who employed two senior caregivers. The Smiths live in New York

I recently met with a group of Geriatric Care Managers (GCM) to learn more about how they help their aging clients, and to brief them on upcoming changes to payroll laws that impact senior care.

Many household employers agree with their caregiver - whether this be a nanny, senior caregiver or other - on a set wage per week for a certain number of regular hours. This is common, and fine, yet a household employer who fails to translate this weekly wage into an hourly rate can open themselves up to costly wage and hour disputes. This is the last thing you want to be involved in, as wage and hour lawsuits are expensive. President Obama's initiative to protect workers from unpaid overtime means the US Department of Labor is adding 300 more investigators, and household employers will be even more at risk for getting caught.

I am the youngest of six and learned many lessons of ‘what not to do’ from watching my siblings. I observed to the owners of HWS the other day, after taking a client call, that we fix the same problems over and over for different clients. Knowledge is power even when the knowledge comes from seeing the mistakes of others.

I want to share with you my top 5 mistakes your ‘employer’ siblings have done before you so that you can learn ‘what not to do’.

The May/June time frame is a busy one for nanny hiring. Whether you are hiring a summer-only nanny or a year-round nanny, nanny screening is absolutely critical. This nanny can be the most important hire of your life, and your child depends on you exercising due diligence. 

I worked with a new client who had just hired a housekeeper to help her dad around the house. Her father needed help at home - laundry, cooking and just general homemaking services. A recent widower, he had never been terribly involved in household management according to his daughter, and it was getting away from him. My client was referred to an experienced senior homemaker who was looking for work through word of mouth, and she and her brother agreed to privately hire the housekeeper to help Dad several days a week.

Last Friday, HWS' Client Care Manager Mary Crowe took a phone call that went along these lines: