Resources and Best Practices for Employers of Household Workers During the Health Crisis

The health crisis highlights how interconnected we are, and particularly with the people that work in our homes directly supporting our families. Every situation is different, and we hope the resources below can help you.

  • Please read How to Handle Paid Leave Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). There is a brochure you are required to give to your employees.

  • Practice clear and open communication with your employees. State the obvious as everyone is coming from a different place of understanding and context. Share your concerns and if you have symptoms or have been exposed. Discuss backup plans if anyone gets sick. Acknowledge the issues from the employee’s perspective. Through communication, set fair agreements. See DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS | Hand in Hand.

  • Essential Employees: Understand the emergency mandates for your area. Depending on your location, domestic workers may not be considered essential employees unless they’re caring for a child of an essential employee (and there isn’t another non-essential parent available), or providing life-sustaining care to the elderly or disabled.

    Essential Sectors

    Do you work in an essential sector and need your nanny or caregiver to still come? Please consult your state’s definition of essential sectors:

  • Respect desires of workers to stay home, regardless of mandate, for their safety and the safety of their families, and the community.

  • Understand resources available. See Federal Resources and State Resources below.

  • If you have the ability, pay your employee even if they are unable to work. Household employees may not talk to you about it, but many are scared about paying their bills.

  • If workers are asked to come to work, practice social distancing and have very clear processes in place (washing hands frequently), and provide adequate safety equipment and materials.

Additional Advice for Nanny Employers from Hand In Hand:

  • If you are now working from home, set yourself up for success – avoid micromanaging or adding new supervision in the worker’s day. Your home is already their workplace. While you adjust to working from home, set yourself up to maintain their work structure as usual.

  • If you are in a nanny share, consider these options: 

    • Be sure you and the other employing family are on the same page BEFORE talking to the childcare provider about what Paid Time Off (PTO) already exists in your work agreement, how much PTO is left for the remainder of your agreement, and what additional PTO you’re willing and able to offer.

    • Consider setting up one home for the childcare and the other home as the place where the parents work, to minimize disruption in both the children’s care and the parents’ work.

    • If you are concerned about exposure to the childcare provider or from the childcare provider and have the work flexibility to do so, place the childcare provider on paid leave and have the parents take turns caring for the children. 

  • See How to be a fair employer during the Coronavirus pandemic | Hand In Hand.

  • See Tips for Employers | National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Federal Resources

Families First Coronavirus Response Act:

  • Effective March 31st nationally.

  • Provides 10 days of emergency paid sick leave, and up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child (regardless of immigration status).

  • Provides funding for free Coronavirus testing (some of which will go to community health centers that serve everyone regardless of immigration status).

  • Includes provisions to ease obtaining unemployment insurance and food assistance.

  • Doesn’t matter if the employee is paid in cash, they’re still covered under the law.

  • See National Domestic Workers Alliance page coming soon with more detail.

State Resources

General

  • If your employee doesn’t have health insurance, these states have opened enrollment under the Affordable Care Act to enable access to subsidized health insurance: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. See Eleven States Now Letting Uninsured Sign Up for Obamacare | New York Times.

California

New York

Washington

DISCLAIMER: The material provided herein is for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal or tax advice on any matter.

Last Updated: March 24, 2020, 9:30 AM PDT