You’ve interviewed many potential nannies and you’ve finally found the right one. Now, it’s time to build a solid relationship with her – one that works on the professional level as well as the family level. You will be entrusting your children with this nanny, so it’s important to have a great relationship with her. Starting well right at the beginning is key and that usually begins with strong communication and a mutual understanding that you will work together as a team. This will help keep the relationship healthy with a good balance. Here are some other help tips on building a great nanny/family relationship.

This is a community post provided by Freddie Tubbs. From time-to-time we like to share other points of view on popular topics here on our blog. This is one way we keep our content fresh! The opinions and advice below are solely those of the author, not HWS. 

A good nanny job description should contain many things. After all, that's not a simple job – you need to hire someone to take care of your children when you are not around and most parents feel like no one can do it better than them. This is what makes the nanny finding process much harder.

You’ve spent time searching for the right caregiver for your father or son and you’ve become used to having help around the home for your loved one. It appears as if everything is working out well. But then, the caregiver quits. Did something go wrong? You may feel anxiety when you first hear the news that your caregiver is leaving, but there are some practical things you can do that can help alleviate stress and help put you on the track toward finding another person to step in.

The summer has been packed with fun activities, but before you know it, you’ll have to start thinking about heading back to school and all that comes with being prepared for that. If you’re busy and you’re looking for ways to get your nanny more involved with the back to school preparation, here are some great ways that you can have her help.

Prior to the enactment of Obamacare ( Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), household employers gave little thought to cost and regulation when it came to subsidizing a household employee's health insurance costs. The employee and employer simply negotiated a tax free reimbursement contribution, the employee purchased insurance, and the entire transaction took place under the government radar, perfectly legally.

Households that employ domestic help, such as nannies or senior caregivers, are required to file and remit federal and state employment taxes for their employee, but surprisingly, many do not. Failure to pay the so-called “Nanny Tax” results  in a tax gap that totals billions of dollars. In fact, unpaid nanny taxes are estimated to be $3.3 billion to $5.7 billion per year, according to a new study discussed at the June 2018 presentation at the IRS/Tax Policy Center Joint Research Conference on Tax Administration. It is estimated that only 5.3% of the estimated 3.6 million household employers complied with this requirement in 2015. ⁽¹⁾

Hiring a nanny is an important decision and there are likely many questions going through your mind. Setting hours and understanding how much to pay your nanny is an important part of the process, and there are various terms that are used that you may be confused about. Salary* and guaranteed hours are terms that are often used interchangeably, but in fact, they are completely different. If you’ve wondered what guaranteed hours are, we’ll break it down here for you.

Minimum wage and overtime laws are contained in a complex assortment of Federal, state and local laws and ordinances.

If you received a large refund after filing your 2017 income tax return, you’re probably enjoying the influx of cash. You may have had a hefty bill as well. Ideally your tax return should have you just about even with the government, no large refund and no big bill. It’s almost impossible to come out square but being only a couple hundred dollars off one way or another is pretty good. If you aren’t close you might want to consider adjusting your withholding. That process is a little more complicated for 2018.