Where to Find a Nanny
Care.com vs Sittercity vs agencies vs direct hire — what each channel costs, what you get, and which fits your situation.
Hiring help for your home? Be a good employer.
The practical guide to finding, vetting, hiring, paying, and managing people who work in your home — nannies, housekeepers, caregivers, and more. Written from the employer side, in plain English, with verified 2026 figures.
Find — where to look for household help
Housekeeper Payroll & Taxes
The same household-employer rules apply to housekeepers, caregivers, and gardeners — here's how they translate to other roles.
Vet — check before you hire
Is the Care.com Background Check Enough?
What platform checks actually cover, the gaps they leave, and the vetting stack employers should run on their own.
Am I a Household Employer? Quiz
A threshold decision tree: if you answer yes to any of these, the tax rules kick in.
Hire — offers, agreements, and structure
The Nanny Work Agreement
Every clause a household work agreement should cover, and where to get a real template without reinventing one.
Employee vs Contractor for Household Workers
The misconception that costs families the most: your nanny is almost certainly an employee, not a contractor.
Nanny vs Daycare vs Au Pair
A full cost comparison — wages, fees, and the hidden costs nobody quotes you.
Nanny Share Math + the Separate-Employer Trap
How shares actually split costs, and the legal detail that makes each family a separate employer.
Pay — taxes, payroll, and true cost
The True Cost of a Nanny in 2026
The full-year, all-in model: wages + employer taxes + PTO + workers' comp + payroll service.
Nanny Gross-Up Calculator
"I want my nanny to take home $X per week — what does it actually cost me?" All 2026 figures, all math shown.
The Household Employer Tax Guide
IRS-sourced, step by step: registration, Schedule H, W-2s, quarterly vs annual — the whole compliance path.
Nanny Payroll Services Compared
HomeWork Solutions, GTM, HomePay, Poppins, and SurePayroll — verified pricing and honest trade-offs.
Manage — the ongoing employer job
Overtime Rules for Domestic Workers
FLSA coverage, the live-in exemption, and the state overlays that change the math.
Workers' Comp for Household Employers
State-by-state summary table with links to the primary sources — no 50-page guide, just what you need.
PTO, Holidays & Sick Leave Norms
What's standard, what's legally required, and a sample policy you can adapt.
How to Fire a Nanny
Termination done right: severance norms, final-pay rules, and the paperwork that protects both sides.
Tools
Gross-Up Calculator
Take-home pay → true employer cost, with 2026 IRS figures and every line of math shown.
Nanny vs Daycare vs Au Pair Comparator
Plug in your numbers and compare the real annual cost of each childcare option.
Am I a Household Employer?
A threshold decision tree for the $3,000 FICA and $1,000/quarter FUTA triggers.