When your nanny or senior caregiver exceeds your expectations, you should reward them. That means, among other things, offering a formal approach to bonuses and raises. Just like other working professionals, your household employee should receive an annual review, which results in the possibility of a raise — even if it’s just a cost-of-living adjustment to keep up with inflation.
“If you really like your caregiver, a one-time bonus or a raise lets them know how much you respect and value the work they do,” says Carolyn Livingston, director of partnerships for Care.com HomePay. “In our experience, families who treat their household employees with this kind of professional respect enjoy much longer and happier employer-employee relationships.”
Handling payroll for a one-time bonus
According to the latest International Nanny Association survey, about 74% of families give their caregiver a holiday or year-end bonus with a median value of approximately $1,000. It’s important to remember that any kind of bonus (holiday bonus, anniversary bonus, performance bonus, etc.) is considered part of your caregiver’s compensation and is subject to taxes. The easiest way to manage a bonus payment is to simply add the bonus amount to your caregiver’s upcoming paycheck and then calculate the appropriate taxes based on the new total.
Can I ‘gift’ my nanny or caregiver money to manage taxes?
One question we’re often asked by clients is whether or not it is legal for a family to give an employee a bonus and avoid taxes by calling it a gift. Anyone can gift money or other items of value to another individual and have it be nontaxable, up to an annual limit. However, the gift law does not apply to employment situations. Any item of value if given to an employee is considered taxable compensation and must be reported as such.
If you’re a Care.com HomePay client, our system has a bonus option on your employee’s payroll tab that you can easily use if you wish to award them one at any time.
How to prepare for giving your caregiver a raise
If your caregiver has exceeded expectations and deserves a bump in their annual pay, it’s important to understand how that will affect your care budget. As a general approximation, the household employment taxes you will pay is around 10% of your caregiver’s gross (before tax withholdings) wages. That means you need to be prepared to recalculate how much your caregiver will ultimately be paid and the additional taxes you’ll accrue each week. Our paycheck calculator is a great resource to use if you want to crunch the numbers yourself.
For Care.com HomePay clients, it’s easy to adjust your employee’s compensation online. All you need to do is change their pay rate and let us know what pay period it takes effect. And, of course, you can call us any time if you need help making this change.
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