Finding a nanny who wants above board pay
We are looking for a nanny who speaks Spanish, but have been having difficulty finding one willing to be paid above board. We are trying to understand how paying above board will affect the cost for us and pay for the nanny. I'd also be grateful for the opportunity to speak with people offline about this as well as we are finding it difficult to navigate the various systems. Thanks so much!
Aug 2, 2019
Parent Replies
We paid above board and our accountant recommended that we use MyHomePay to facilitate everything, http://www.myhomepay.com/. (It was called Breedlove when we used it and has since been acquired by Care.com and rebranded.)
While it's both the law and the right thing to do, it does add a lot of costs and paperwork for all parties. It was much harder to find a nanny who was willing to get paid above board. Ultimately, we increased our nanny's base rate so that her take-home pay was essentially "market rate." (All of our neighborhood nannies talked very openly with each other about pay and benefits, for better or worse.)
We pay legally, and use Homepay. The service has been good, and makes payment easy.
The "additional" cost, or amount that is the result of legal requirement to pay taxes and fund social benefits, is actually split between you and the employee. We pay about $35/week for taxes and social benefits, and are in a share where the rate is 12.5 for each family per hour.
Is above board the same as over the table? I have a native Spanish speaking nanny who insisted on being paid over the table and we agreed. I'm happy to talk with you about it.
Jenn