If you’ve just completed your tax return and you have realized that you have claimed too much or too little, it may be time to reevaluate your W-4 form. Here is why the W-4 form is so important: the W-4 is completed by you as the employee and tells your employer how much of your gross earnings need to be deducted from your paycheck for taxes.

If you have a nanny or senior caretaker working in your home, you are officially an employer and should be adhering to rules that apply to household employers. However, there are many mistakes that can be made, either intentionally or not, that could have big consequences. Here are some common mistakes household employers make that can have big consequences and how you can avoid them.

Most employers have some sort of employee handbook or at least a clear cut work agreement. It goes without saying that it is extremely important to have and keep updating your employee handbook.  If you don’t, or yours is out-of-date, then you may want to change that.

If one of your household employees has recently filed for unemployment benefits, you may have received notice from your state and be unsure of what to do. This brings up the question: what does it mean when an employee files an unemployment claim? Here we will break down some of the basics about unemployment claims and explain what’s required of you as the employer.

Nanny and household staffing professionals know that there are federal and state, and sometimes city, laws that govern job application forms, interview questions, and screening processes and more. Most of these laws are intended to protect the applicant from discriminatory hiring and screening practices.

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.

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.