You’ve finished your search and have finally hired the best-fit nanny for your family, but where do you go from here to ensure that you develop the best possible nanny relationship ongoing?

Honeymoon Period

In every new job, both the employer and employee will be trying to make the best possible impression. Venturing into new territory will mean that the nanny may try different approaches and end up keeping some, while changing others. Adjusting to the expectations of the job and forming a bond with the children and family will take time. Rome, the perfect romance, and a long-lasting nanny relationship aren’t built overnight (or in two weeks); be patient and realistic.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

You hired this professional for a reason. That being said, she’s human. She may do things differently than you do, or would do. That doesn’t make them wrong. People have diverse ways of handling children. It’s easy to pick up on these variances, especially in the beginning, but try to be respectful and give your new nanny the space she needs to blossom in your household. Carefully weigh what really matters. Certainly, something involving a safety concern or a personal boundary you’d communicate about, but if she gets your child dressed in another order than you do or has a varied teeth brushing routine, it may not be worth worrying about. In fact, many parents comment on how much they’ve gained from having another adult around, with years of childcare experience, who second handedly taught them a great deal, if they were open-minded and willing to see other methods through this lens. At the end of the day, if your children are well cared for and you trust her, then that speaks volumes.

The professionals at ��ë���˵���personally assist nannies, babysitters and families in��St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Miami and Orlando to find the right childcare arrangement. Our mission is to provide a safe and personalized ��approach for families and caregivers to connect with each other that is not an internet search. TLC has worked with families, nannies, sitters, newborn care providers, and tutors for over 35 years and looks forward to working with you! To find great nanny and babysitting jobs visit us at��tlc@tlcforkids.com��or Call 314-725-5660.

The post Best Practices to Establish the Perfect Nanny Relationship appeared first on TLC Family Care.

Tax information for employers and nannies is being updated for the new year. Thanks to our friends at HomePay for this valuable information all nannies and employers should know.��

The earnings threshold that triggers the requirement to remit FICA taxes on a household employee’s wages will increase from $2,400 in 2022 to $2,600 in 2023. If the annual FICA wage threshold is reached, the employer becomes responsible for remitting both the employee and employer portions of FICA on all the wages they paid to the employee during the tax year. When wages paid to a household employee do not reach the annual FICA threshold, the employer is not required to issue a W-2.��

A new line has been added to form 1040 (federal personal income tax return) for reporting income earned as a household employee that was not reported on form W-2 because the wages stayed below the FICA threshold. It is no coincidence that the IRS added this new line alongside the change to the threshold triggering the requirement for TPSOs like Venmo and PayPal to file and issue a 1099-K.*��

*Previously, the 1099-K threshold had been $20,000 and 200+ transactions received. Effective 1/1/23, the threshold will be $600 in payments received.��

1099-K Threshold Changes Postponed

This past Friday, December 23rd, the IRS announced that the effective date of the new 1099-K threshold will be pushed back a year. So, rather than impacting payments made after 1/1/22, the change will impact payments made after 1/1/23. Per the , the delay is intended to provide more time for taxpayers to prepare and understand the new reporting requirements.��

While changes to the 1099-K requirements do not impact payments made through a payroll service, we know that TPSOs like Venmo, PayPal and Stripe are frequently used by families to pay date night sitters and other more temporary/adhoc providers. Earlier this year, we shared we received when the change was first announced. As of now, the answers are still accurate – minus the effective date of the change. We will continue to compile resources to help families and domestic workers ensure that they have their ducks in a row for the 2023 tax filing season.

Should you have any questions, give us a call or reach out to for all your nanny tax and payroll needs.

The professionals at ��ë���˵���personally assist nannies, babysitters and families in��St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Miami and Orlando to find the right childcare arrangement. Our mission is to provide a safe and personalized ��approach for families and caregivers to connect with each other that is not an internet search. TLC has worked with families, nannies, sitters, newborn care providers, and tutors for over 35 years and looks forward to working with you! To find great nanny and babysitting jobs visit us at��tlc@tlcforkids.com��or Call 314-725-5660.

The post Federal Reporting Thresholds for Household Employers appeared first on TLC Family Care.

Hiring a nanny can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially for ultra-busy, sleep-deprived families. Often, the obsession with finding the perfect caregiver causes families to overlook important employment details.

The Mistake

A Virginia family began searching for a nanny to care for their new bundle of joy. After an emotionally-draining 6-week quest to find the ideal nanny, they hastily agreed — verbally — on a work schedule and hourly rate. The nanny started work the next day without any kind of written agreement in place.

The Law

In some jurisdictions, a basic employment agreement is legally required. Whether required or not, we highly recommend that families use a placement agency or an attorney who can facilitate a comprehensive contract between family and nanny.

The discipline of drafting detailed job responsibilities, house rules, emergency procedures, work schedule, vacation/sick time procedures, compensation, pay frequency, communication/review procedures, etc. radically reduces problems and misunderstandings. It also tends to lengthen relationships because it makes the employee feel like a valued professional. Finally, it can be an important and cost-effective means of arbitrating any family/nanny issues.

The Mess

Within a few weeks, the honeymoon was over:
The family had trouble hiding frustration with the nanny’s housekeeping habits. She was tidying up the baby’s room and kitchen as well as cleaning toys and baby clothes. But the family had expectations of the nanny doing the family’s laundry and light housekeeping.
The nanny resented not getting paid for Labor Day. She needed the money and had assumed that she’d get paid for major holidays.
When the nanny got her first pay check, she was confused by the tax withholding’s. She thought the agreed-upon amount would be her “take-home” pay.

The Outcome

The family talked to friends and did some online research into the typical duties of nannies. They quickly realized that nanny job descriptions vary wildly and that they had done a poor job of articulating their desires at the beginning of the search process.

Similarly, although the family had done some research on household employer tax and legal obligations, they had not discussed the compensation and benefits offer at the appropriate level of detail for their nanny.

Despite the rocky start, the family really liked the way the nanny took care of the baby so they made a considerable effort to keep her. They created an employment agreement and sat down with her to discuss all the “relationship details” they should have discussed a month earlier.

Unfortunately, the nanny took another job shortly after their meeting. She did not feel valued or respected and opted for a fresh start with another couple.

The family hired their next nanny through one of our agency partners. The agency used a thorough job description process to focus the search on nannies who met the family’s expectations. After a comprehensive vetting process, the agency held the family’s hand through an employment agreement that left no room for misinterpretation or confusion. It’s been almost 18 months and the relationship is going strong.

How the Whole Thing Could Have Been Avoided

When searching for household help, busy families are tempted to take short cuts. Aside from being pressed for time, it can feel somewhat awkward to have a formal contractual agreement with someone with whom there is such a personal relationship.

However, in our experience, the formal work agreement is the single-best predictor of the long-term success of the relationship. Without one, the relationship almost always seems to be rife with misunderstandings and resentment. With one, the relationship enjoys clear direction and increased professionalism.

We encourage families to retain a reputable placement agency that can guide them on employment agreements and other important aspects of due diligence involved with household employment. It dramatically enhances the odds of an endearing and enduring employment relationship.

If you have additional questions about this or any other aspect of household employment tax and labor law, visit them��

The post Every Family Needs A Work Agreement With Their Nanny appeared first on TLC Family Care.

The final rule will:

• Raise the salary threshold indicating eligibility from $455/week to $913 ($47,476 per year), ensuring��protections to 4.2 million workers.
• Automatically update the salary threshold every three years, based on wage growth over time, increasing predictability.
• Strengthen overtime protections for salaried workers already entitled to overtime.
• Provide greater clarity for workers and employers.

Nannies, and other domestic workers, are non-exempt and protected under The Fair Labor Standards Act.�� Therefore, a nanny who works over 40 hours in a week is required to earn time and a half for those additional hours.

For example, lets say a nanny works 45 hours a week and earns $617.50.���� Her hourly salary is $13/hr for the first 40 hours and $19.50 for the additional 5 hours worked that week.

Watch the video for more information on nanny overtime pay and the

The post Nanny Pay and the Overtime Rule of 2016 appeared first on TLC Family Care.

Talking about taxes can often seem overwhelming. Luckily, TLC can refer you to professionals that can help. We recommend using for all your household employment needs.

By definition, a nanny working in the home of a family is an employee of the family (even if the job is temporary, permanent, part-time, or full-time). The nanny is NOT an independent contractor. The ‘employee’ classification is determined by the nature of the work performed—not by how much the nanny is paid or the amount of time she is with the family. The IRS has ruled definitively that caregivers are employees of the families for whom they work.

If you are only employing a nanny for a few months in the summer or for very part-time hours during the school year, you may not think you need to withhold taxes from your nanny’s wages, but you are most, likely mistaken.

If you pay your nanny more than $1,900 (2014) in a calendar year, you, as an employer, must meet the household employment tax withholding and reporting obligations. You are required to withhold payroll taxes from your nanny’s wages and then report and pay those taxes to the tax agencies quarterly. Before your nanny starts, have her fill out a w-4. This form helps determines how much will be withheld from your nanny’s paycheck. At the end of the year, your nanny should be sent a Form W-2 detailing her wages, as well as the taxes that she has pre-paid throughout the year.

Filing the necessary papers and to pay your nanny legally may seem like a hassle, but it is illegal for you—the employer—to fail to withhold taxes and file employment tax returns. Our friends at Breedlove and Associates, will take the stress out of paying your nanny legally and will educate you and help you take advantage of the tax breaks you may enjoy by doing so. Visit their website to learn how.

We hope you find this helpful. Please call TLC for Kids St. Louis 314-725-5660 or TLC for Kids Miami 305-256-5905 for your child care needs.

The post Understanding Nanny Taxes appeared first on TLC Family Care.

Nanny tax experts Breedlove and Associates��share the reason��why.

Nannies who work for one or more families on a temporary basis usually have lots of tax and legal questions. There are special provisions in the law for “casual babysitting,” so here’s what you need to know:

Temporary nannies are still employees; not independent contractors.�� They are employees of the family.

A nanny working in a family’s home — whether the job is temporary or permanent, part-time or full-time — is an employee of the family. It is illegal for the family to treat you as an independent contractor (a designation which increases your tax burden significantly). The “employee” classification is not determined by how much you are paid or the amount of time you work for the family; it is determined by the nature of the work performed. The IRS has ruled definitively that caregivers are employees of the families for whom they work.

Your employer may not need to withhold taxes from your wages.

Household employment tax requirements are determined by the amount of the gross wages paid to an employee. In 1995, the IRS modified household employment tax requirements to exempt temporary employment and casual babysitting from the tax process. This is sometimes referred to as the “Casual Babysitting Exemption.” As a temporary employee, if you earn less than $1,900 (2014) in a calendar year, your employer is not required to withhold any taxes from your salary.

However, if you earn more than $1,800 (2013) from a family in a calendar year, your employer — the family — must meet the household employment tax withholding and reporting obligations. They are required to withhold payroll taxes from your wages and then report and pay those taxes to the tax agencies quarterly — along with some employer taxes that provide you with retirement and unemployment benefits. At the end of the year, the family should give you a Form W-2 detailing your wages as well as the taxes that you have pre-paid throughout the year.

If your employer fails to withhold taxes and file employment tax returns, they are breaking the law — and you will not be entitled to the retirement and unemployment benefits mentioned previously. Hopefully, you won’t face that situation. But if you do, the best thing you can do is make sure you avoid tax and legal problems for yourself by reporting your wages and paying your income taxes at the end of the year.

You are responsible for keeping track of your wages.

If you are paid less than the $1,900 (2014) threshold per family you work for, you will most likely not have any taxes withheld from your pay since your employers are not obligated to do so. However, temporary nannies are still required to track the amount of money earned from every employer — no matter how little you are paid. You are responsible for reporting all wages earned during the year by filing annual income tax returns — even if your wages are not high enough to trigger a tax payment.

The post Why didn't I get a W-2? appeared first on TLC Family Care.

Here is a blog from on the best practices of nanny health insurance.

Q. What does the family need to do regarding documentation to keep the health insurance non-taxable?

A. A family needs to have evidence that the nanny actually HAS health insurance in place, and that the policy cost is equal to or greater than the stipend. The easiest way to do this is for the family to write the check for the stipend directly to the insurance carrier. If that is not possible or desired, the family needs to:

1. Obtain and retain a certificate of coverage that shows the period and amount of the premium. This needs to be up to date, so you may need to do this semi-annually or annually depending on the policy.

2. Either write a separate check for the stipend with the memo clearly stating the purpose (BC/BS POLICY NUMBER July 2013 for example) OR provide a pay stub to the nanny stating gross wages, itemized deductions, net pay, and the addition of the premium contribution to the net pay as a reimbursement item.

Q. What are the tax benefits to the family?

A. The health insurance premium stipend is not taxable wages. The employer does not include this in the employee’s taxable wages on the W-2 form, and does not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65%) nor Federal or State Unemployment taxes on the premium (~3.5 – 4% depending on the situation).

Q. What are the tax benefits to the nanny?

A. ��Because the health insurance premium stipend is not taxable wages, the nanny does not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65%) nor income taxes (variable, estimate 15% for Federal and state) on the premium stipend.

A. Are there any audit risks involved?

Q. The biggest risk is that the family is paying the stipend and the nanny allows the policy to lapse. Retroactively this would make the premium stipend taxable, and at that point the family would be on the hook for the employer and employee Social Security and Medicare taxes (15.3% total) as well as the unemployment taxes. This is why it is a best practice to make payments directly to the carrier.

A typical health insurance plan for a healthy single nanny can run $500 or more a month. This is $6000 a year. Many families offer a partial premium benefit at time of hire, and will discuss picking up more in lieu of a raise when the compensation is reviewed.

A family who contributes $3000 a year saves approximately $330 in taxes (11% of the benefit!) and the nanny saves approximately $675 in taxes (about a week’s pay!).

The post Health Insurance for Nannies appeared first on TLC Family Care.