Hiring someone to work one-on-one with your loved one is a very important decision that requires research and dedication. There are many caregivers out there looking for work, but which one is right for you? You may feel overwhelmed at that options, but what it really comes down to is, which person best connects with you and your family? Experience is key, but good character is what really matters. Here are some basic tips for a hiring a nanny with good character.

Motivating your employees can be a difficult process. Maybe you try financial incentives or office recognition like “Employee of the Month.” These can only be so successful because true motivation needs to come from within. Here are some basics on how to motivate employees.

Occasionally a nanny or other household employee will find themselves in a dispute with an employer, generally a former employer, over unpaid wages. Whether this be overtime that wasn’t properly compensated, failure to meet minimum wage or final wages that were not paid, there exists in every state a mechanism to file an unpaid wage claim and have the state’s Department of Labor Wage and Hour office intervene on his or her behalf. These avenues should be pursued AFTER direct attempts to resolve the situation with the employer have failed.

HomeWork Solutions' co-founder Kathy Webb recently participated in a nanny educational program focused around legal nanny payroll. In the course of discussions, attendees were anxious for some concrete examples on how the negotiation of pre-tax benefits for health insurance reimbursement and professional development  could be cost neutral to a family and a big win for the nanny.

If you own a small business, or are a household employer, and want to offer a retirement savings plan to your employees the options can get confusing. Offering a 401(k) can be complicated and expensive, but a SIMPLE IRA might be just right. What is a SIMPLE IRA? Here is a breakdown of how they work and some SIMPLE IRA benefits.

Most employers are focused on financial metrics when analyzing their business, which makes sense. In recent years though, more attention has been paid to human resource metrics as well. Monitoring these important KPIs below can help any company, household or not, with ensuring smooth operation.

Is your to-do list getting longer and longer and does it seem like your demands from day to day just never end? We get it. Sometimes there simply isn’t enough time to keep on top of everything.

Every year HomeWork Solutions prepares a "what's new or changed" roundup of household employment tax laws and benefit information.

HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYEE 2019 WAGE BASE:

The IRS annually reviews, and adjusts as necessary, the wage payment threshold that obligates a family to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes and issue employees W-2 forms. This threshold remains at $2100 of wages in a year for 2019.

You live an active lifestyle and sometimes weather emergencies throw you for a loop. No one likes to be inconvenienced and when it comes to weather issues, it can be stressful and frustrating – especially if it means that your nanny or caregiver cannot come to work. Whether it’s a tropical storm or a pileup of snow overnight, if you plan ahead for weather emergencies, you can minimize the headache. Here are some tips that can help.

The laundry is piling up, the dust bunnies are accumulating around the house, you have 2 soccer games to be at this weekend with your kids, and all you can think about is the mound of dishes in the sink that needs to be tackled. Life gets busy and sometimes it is so busy that we just don’t have the time to do what we need to do to keep on top of housecleaning. So you might be asking yourself, "Should I get a housekeeper?"