The California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights (CA DWBR), which went into effect in 2014, along two other pieces of recent legislation obligate California household employers to special responsibilities. Recently the January 1, 2017 sunset provision of the 2014 CA DWBR legislation was repealed - a significant victory for domestic worker rights advocates.

California household employers must first make a determination, based on the nature of the work performed, whether their employee is a domestic service worker or a personal attendant. Duties determine the applicablity of Wage Orders and employee protections in California. It's a bit complicated! 

Topics: domestic employer legal responsibilities, nanny independent contractor, nanny work agreement, california household employment

HWS received the following update today from Legally Nanny, a foremost legal expert in household employment law in California and wanted to immediately update California household employers.

Topics: companionship services, california household employment, senior home care, senior home-care workers

California's Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) requires all employers to provide an annual notice to employees that includes details of their hourly and overtime pay rates. 

Topics: california household employment, wage theft prevention

Payroll changes often happen at the beginning of the calendar year, and nanny tax related changes are no different. The HomeWork Solutions household payroll experts have assembled a short overview of changes a nanny employer, employer of a senior caregiver, or any household employer needs to know.

Topics: nanny health insurance, nanny mileage reimbursement, New York household payroll, Affordable Care Act, california household employment, DC household payroll

California Governor Brown signed the California Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, AB 241, into law on September 26, 2013. The regulations become effective January 1, 2014.

What does this mean to California household employers?

Topics: domestic workers bill of rights, california household employment

Household employers in San Francisco California have local, city employment ordinances they must comply with, in addition the California Wage Order 15, California EDD taxation, and Federal tax and labor law.

Topics: california household employment

San Jose’s Measure D, which will increase the current city’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 per hour effective March 2013, passed with overwhelming voter support. 

San Jose is now one of the two cities in California whose minimum wage has gone up independently of the state's.  San Francisco has enforced its own minimum wage for many years.  There are only a handful of other cities nationwide that set their own minimum wages: Washington, D.C., Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M.

Household employers in San Jose whose pay their employees minimum wage need to adjust their salary to reflect this new rate in March 2013.

Stay tuned for more updates from The Nanny Tax Experts.

Topics: nanny income tax, nanny payroll tax, calculate nanny payroll tax, household payroll tax, california household employment

The California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, AB889, which passed through the CA legislature this September was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown.

Topics: domestic workers bill of rights, california household employment

Did you know that New York State requires that employers provide three paid days personal time per year to a nanny or housekeeper after one year of employment?

Topics: nanny benefits, new york household employment, california household employment

California is striving to shine a light on its underground economy.  At the end of 2011, the LA Times reported that employers who pay their workers under the table - to avoid payroll taxes, workers’ compensation insurance and other government mandates - cost the state about $7 billion annually in lost tax revenues.  Last week, California’s Labor Enforcement Task Force set up a public hotline for workers and employers to call in complaints and provide enforcement tips.  Employers who are playing by the rules want to create a level playing field by "ratting out" their competitors who cheat.  One state official notes, “The hotline will be a valuable tool to gather information and bring into compliance those employers who treat workplace safety and wage and hour laws as a nuisance”. 

Topics: nanny tax audit, domestic employer legal responsibilities, payroll tax enforcement, california household employment