2024 is already flying by and before you know it, summer will be here. Children are already counting down the days until school gets out. Summer camps, vacations, camping trips, and warm weather barbecues and playtimes at your local park will keep you and your family’s schedule full and busy. Now is the time to think ahead to hiring qualified and experienced household staff for your home to help. Not sure which type of employee will suit your family’s specific needs best? Confused about what it means to become a household employer? We can help.
Common Types of Summer Staff
Summer Nanny
Want an extra hand while you take your summer vacation or head to your lake house? Hire a traveling summer nanny to take along with you. Or perhaps you’re just looking for an energetic nanny that can keep your children boredom-free. Whether it’s visiting museums, exploring new parks or neighborhoods, or coordinating play times or taking them to camp or swim lessons, a nanny can give you the additional help you require. Not to mention, it gives your kids the opportunity to build a special relationship with a compassionate adult that is dedicated to their health and wellbeing.
Private Chef
One of the best parts of summer is the bounty of fresh produce at their peak. Curious about how to create new menu items that incorporate the beauty of summer food? Maybe you’d love to take your entertaining skills up a notch this summer and provide those in your circle with regular barbecues or soirees. An experienced in-home chef can not only help you plan an outstanding menu, but they can also assist with the shopping and cooking of all your family’s meals this summer, so you don’t have to. Whether it’s a part-time chef that helps throughout the summer for special occasions, or someone that provides everything from breakfast to dinner this summer, we can help place a trained chef that will coordinate your meal or nutrition preferences for you.
Housekeeper
There’s no doubt about it: summer gets messy. Laundry builds up, play rooms get disorganized, dishes start stacking in the sink, and floors get dirty from all the fun activities that are happening in and around the house. A housekeeper can help ensure your home is organized, clean, and sanitized. Our team at Household Staffing will help place a live-in or live-out housekeeper that will give you the peace of mind you want – and need – knowing that everything is tidy.
Important Household Employer Must-Knows
Pay your summer staff legally.
Hiring someone to work in your home makes you an employer. They are not an independent contractor that determines their own schedule or how they complete their job duties. Paying your staff ‘off the books’ in cash is illegal and could mean you’ll face hefty fines or fees to pay from the government if discovered. Not to mention, your employee will have no coverage for unemployment if they require that later, and there is no formal history of their work should they need to apply for a loan, purchase a home, or rent an apartment.
Paying your employee on the books from day one – with all federal and local taxes withheld – is not just the right thing to do: it’s the law, too. We recognize that understanding the various innerworkings of household employment can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve never done it before. That’s why we partner with payroll and tax companies that specialize in household employment. We will recommend next steps regarding this once we help place an employee in your home.
Pay overtime when necessary.
Sometimes, your summer fun will need to be extended, and you’ll need your employee to work over the standard 40-hour workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act states that household employees who live out of your home should be paid 1.5 times their hourly wage if they work over 40 hours per week. If they are living in your home this summer, they should be paid overtime at their regularly hourly rate. If you are paying your employee weekly or in a lump monthly sum and your employee works overtime, a labor dispute could arise. It is important to be familiar with overtime laws in your specific state, so you can comply appropriately.
Consider what benefits to provide.
Temporary summer employees generally aren’t required to receive benefits or health insurance. However, if you are able to provide temporary benefits, such as tuition reimbursement, mileage reimbursement, or reimbursed medical costs, this could be a great way to attract and retain the highest quality household employees out there.
Ready to start the hiring process for the summer? Contact our team at Household Staffing today to get started. We can place staff in your home in as little as 10 days!
