Whether it is for more free time or to lessen the workload, many people hire outside help to assist with duties in the home. A household employer is defined by someone that employs some to help with domestic services, such as nannies, cleaning services, housekeepers, gardeners, and other types of domestic workers. Household workers should be paid by their employers correctly for completing the household tasks are demanded.
If you become a household employer, you have to pay attention to many things regarding the state and federal employment laws and regulations. Managing employees effectively determine how long they stay and how happy they are working for you. It can be stressful dealing with the ins and outs of providing employment to a domestic worker and there are matters to think about before anything else.
Hiring
Understanding the things you have to go through to get a household employee is essential to running a safe and lawful business. Before you begin hiring anyone as an employee, you must first register as an employer. You must know that the worker is classified as your employee if you can dictate what work they must complete and how you want it to be done. You must also know that whether the worker is part time or full time, or if you hired them from an agency do not matter.
Determining if the employee is eligible to work in the United States is crucial to figure if you need to hire them or not. It is important to make sure that before the first day of their job with you, there are records that show they are eligible to work in the U.S., especially if they work on a regular basis. Compared to these workers, irregular household employees that work sporadically should not be required to complete the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-9.
Use online job search websites to submit a job description to let workers know that you are hiring and what you’re hiring for. Sites like care.com, Indeed, and Urbansitter make it simple for employers to hire the perfect fitting household employee.
Payroll
Paying someone may seem like it is the easiest part about being an employer but it is the most difficult and complicated factor. Setting correct and reasonable pay rates and benefits allows you to get the best employees for your tasks. Make sure you notice what kind of work the worker will be doing or how difficult and time-consuming it will be and compensate them based on it. Your gardener should not have the same pay rate as the nanny due to them having to complete different types of tasks with different levels of difficulty.
Payroll can become a sticky situation if you’re not paying attention to the detail and the paperwork needed to provide a safe and smooth exchange between employer and employee. You can take control of this yourself or request assistance from a legal and outside source like an accountant. You can utilize online services to make the payroll process easier for you.
Taxes
This is the most difficult part of employing a domestic worker. Before you can pay the household employee for their work, you must determine if you owe a taxes. FICA taxes are Social Security tax and Medicare tax that is deducted from the pay of employees and also paid by employers. FICA applies to domestic workers that are paid more than $2100 a year. You are excluded from having to pay taxes when:
- The worker is employed by an agency
- If the worker provides care out of their own home
- If the person is under the age of 21
- If the worker is your spouse
- If the person is your parent
Employment taxes are what is withheld by the employer to the worker’s income taxes. You aren’t specifically required to withhold taxes, only if the the worker requests that you do so. A completed W-4 form helps you calculate what the withholding amount is. The amount you figure is what is required to be paid to the IRS periodically and must be reported on IRS Form 941 to verify amounts owed and paid.
You must also remember to pay your state taxes and federal employment taxes that are based upon the employee’s wages. If employing a nanny or child care aid, there may be a possibility that you qualify for the child care tax credit.
