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.

Topics: payroll recordkeeping

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

Topics: household employee taxes, nanny payroll tax

"Safe Today. Healthy Tomorrow."

Americans over the age of 60 are the single largest demographic group in the country, surpassing children 18 and younger for the first time on record. Today's seniors express a marked preference for aging in place, defined by the Center for Disease Control as "the ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level."

Topics: elder care, senior caregivers

New York City's paid sick leave act went into effect April 1, 2014. This does apply in a limited manner to domestic service workers, such as a nanny, housekeeper or senior caregiver.

Topics: new york household employment

According to Merriam-Webster, "The Sandwich Generation" is defined as a generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children. I define The Sandwich Generation as 90% of my friends. The Sandwich Generation has very full plates between being successful professionals by day and stressed out parent and adult daughter/son by night.  Trying to keep all the balls in the air is challenging and can be draining.

Topics: aging parents, senior care, hiring care for seniors

Topics: elder care, employment authorization, workers compensation household employees, Hiring Elder care

April 15 is the deadline for income tax filings for a nanny, senior caregiver or housekeeper in the United States.

Topics: nanny income tax, household paycheck calculator

Navigating the roadmap of senior home care can be challenging, and the everchanging laws make it even more overwhelming. We are receiving an increasing number of emails regarding the so-called "Nanny Tax," and other concerns surrounding private household employment of senior home caregivers. In response to these questions, we decided to address the top three Elder Care FAQ’s

Topics: elder care, eldercare, household employee, nanny tax, Hiring Elder care, senior home care

In a triumphant win for labor unions and worker advocacy groups, the Obama administration made sweeping reform in mandating that home health workers, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants who provide care to the elderly be paid minimum wage and overtime. While it may affect the bottom line for families of aging relatives, over half of senior care givers were living at or below the poverty line.

Topics: elder care, aging parents, Alzheimer's, obamacare, home health workers, legal employees, documented employees, caregiver, Hiring Elder care

A bill to increase the Massachusetts minimum wage and grant extended legal protections to Massachusetts' nannies, housekeepers and senior caregivers passed the Massachusetts House 125-24 April 4, 2014. The bill will move to the Massachusetts' Senate where stand alone minimum wage legislation (no linkage with domestic workers' rights) has previously passed. The two chambers will have to reach an agreement on the differences  between their respective bills.

Topics: domestic workers bill of rights, domestic employer legal responsibilities