Georgia Employer Guide

Georgia Household Employer Guide 2026

Your household employee — a nanny, caregiver, housekeeper, or anyone who works in your Georgia home — is a W-2 employee. Georgia is one of the simpler household-payroll states: state unemployment filings, optional Georgia income-tax withholding by agreement, no local income taxes, no statewide paid leave, and a federal $7.25 wage floor.

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✓ Updated May 2026 · Verified against Georgia Department of Revenue, Georgia Department of Labor, GA State Board of Workers’ Compensation, and IRS
State Income Tax5.09%
Minimum Wage$7.25/hr
UI Rate1.13%
Paid LeaveNot required
Workers' Comp3+ employees
Georgia is one of the simpler household-payroll states. The main Georgia-specific items are employer-paid unemployment insurance after the $1,000 quarterly threshold, optional Georgia income-tax withholding by mutual agreement, and the annual G-1003 reconciliation when Georgia withholding applies. Georgia has no local income taxes, no statewide paid sick leave, and no PFML.
Your household worker is a W-2 employee. Whether they're a nanny, caregiver, housekeeper, gardener, or personal assistant — if you control when, where, and how the work is done, they are your employee under IRS rules. That means W-2 reporting, payroll tax compliance, and federal labor law obligations. Most household workers are employees under IRS rules, not contractors — issuing a 1099 in this situation can lead to back tax penalties, interest, and wage-law liability.

When the rules apply

Georgia household employers mainly need to watch federal payroll thresholds and the $1,000 quarterly Georgia unemployment threshold:

2026 Thresholds
$3,000
Federal · 2026
Triggers Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA) and W-2/W-3 reporting.
$1,000
Federal/quarter
Triggers federal unemployment tax (FUTA) and Georgia Department of Labor registration.
$1,000
State/quarter
Cash wages to all household employees combined in any calendar quarter. Triggers Georgia DOL registration and employer-paid UI contributions.

How Nest Payroll handles this

Each pay period, you pay your employee the net amount directly — through Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, your banking app, or by check. Nest generates the pay stub, calculates payroll taxes, and registers you with the Georgia Department of Labor once the $1,000 quarterly threshold applies.

Federal taxes — quarterly EFTPS payments

At the end of each federal quarter (March, May, August, December), Nest debits your bank account for the federal taxes owed — FUTA, employer + employee FICA, and any federal income tax withheld — and remits them to the IRS via EFTPS. You'll get a confirmation email a week beforehand. Your money stays in your account until taxes are actually due. We don't hold withholdings on your behalf. At year-end, Schedule H on your Form 1040 reconciles everything Nest already paid through the year; Nest produces a signature-ready version.

Georgia state taxes — quarterly UI filings

Each quarter, Nest files the DOL-4N with the Georgia Department of Labor for state unemployment insurance. Georgia UI is employer-paid and is not withheld from your employee.

Georgia UI tax: New household employers generally pay 1.13% on the first $9,500 of each employee's wages. This is employer-paid and not withheld from your employee. Nest calculates and remits this with quarterly DOL-4N filings once registration applies. Source: Georgia Department of Labor
Georgia state income tax: Georgia uses a flat 5.09% personal income tax rate in 2026. State income-tax withholding is voluntary for household employers and requires agreement with your employee. The state withholding certificate is Form G-4. Source: Georgia Department of Revenue
End-of-year reconciliation: If you didn't cross the federal FICA threshold ($3,000/year per employee — most common when families start payroll late in the year or hire short-term help), we'll let you know exactly what was withheld but doesn't need to be remitted. You return those amounts to your employee, and we file accordingly.

Set up payroll in 5 minutes.

Nest handles Georgia payroll calculations, paystubs, quarterly DOL-4N filings, and year-end Schedule H — all for $42/mo.

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Setup checklist (before they start)

Georgia Workers' Compensation Insurance — voluntary for households

Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-2.1, the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act applies to employers with 3 or more employees regularly in service. A household employer with one or two domestic workers falls below this threshold and is not required to carry workers' comp.

However, voluntary coverage is still worth considering. Workers' comp can protect you if your employee is injured on the job and gives the employee a predictable benefits path without a lawsuit.

Without coverage: An injured household worker may be able to sue you directly for workplace injury costs. Talk to your insurance agent about whether your homeowner's or umbrella policy covers domestic-employee injuries.

Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility)

Have your employee complete the Form I-9 at hire to verify they're authorized to work in the United States. You don't submit this anywhere — keep it filed in case of audit.

Federal W-4 (and Form G-4 if withholding state income tax)

The federal W-4 determines how much federal income tax to withhold from each paycheck. Have your household employee fill this out at hire and any time their situation changes.

If you and your employee mutually agree to withhold Georgia state income tax, your employee fills out Form G-4.

Federal and Georgia income tax withholding are both voluntary for household employers and require mutual agreement between you and your employee.

Georgia New Hire Reporting

Report new hires to the Georgia New Hire Reporting Program within 10 days of the start date — Georgia has one of the shorter reporting windows in the country. Federal law requires this; Georgia penalty for failure is up to $25 per missed report.

Required Employment Posters

Even with a single household employee, GA requires the following workplace posters (or equivalent notification, since your home isn't a typical workplace):

For a household setting, a single binder kept in a common area satisfies the posting obligation in most cases.

Written Work Agreement

Georgia does not require a written employment agreement, but it's strongly recommended. A clear written agreement reduces misunderstandings and protects both parties when situations come up that you didn't anticipate.

Use our free nanny contract template as a starting point — it covers compensation, hours, duties, vacation, sick time, confidentiality, and at-will employment language.

Pay & compensation

Minimum Wage — federal floor of $7.25/hr

Georgia's state minimum wage is below the federal rate, so the federal $7.25/hr floor applies to FLSA-covered household employees. There are no local city or county minimum wages in Georgia. In practice, nanny and caregiver market rates are usually well above the legal floor.

Overtime — 1.5× regular pay over 40hr/week

Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules apply: live-out household employees get 1.5× their regular hourly rate for any hours over 40 in a workweek. Live-in household employees are exempt from federal OT (FLSA exemption for live-in domestic workers), and Georgia has no state OT requirement that overrides this.

Georgia Overtime Rules
Worker typeOT triggerRate
Live-out (most nannies, housekeepers, caregivers)Over 40 hr/week1.5× regular
Live-inFLSA-exempt — no OT required1.0× regular

"No Tax on Overtime" Deduction (2025–2028)

The federal overtime deduction may let household employees deduct the premium portion of qualifying overtime pay on their personal tax return. This is a federal income-tax rule; it does not change how you calculate overtime, FICA, Georgia withholding, or payroll records.

With Nest Payroll: Nest tracks qualified overtime reporting for W-2 purposes when required.

Pay Frequency

Household employees are usually treated as non-exempt hourly workers under FLSA rules — even when you've agreed to pay a "salary," federal FLSA treats it as a wage covering a fixed number of hours per week, with overtime owed on hours past 40.

Under O.C.G.A. § 34-7-2, Georgia employers (other than agricultural employers) must pay wages at least twice a month on regularly scheduled paydays. Most household payroll arrangements pay weekly or biweekly to keep cash flow predictable for both sides.

Mileage Reimbursement

Georgia does not have a state-mandated mileage reimbursement rate for private employers. If your employee uses their own car for work-related driving (errands, school pickup, doctor's appointments for the children), reimburse at the federal IRS standard mileage rate — $0.70/mile for 2026. Reimbursements at or below the federal rate are not taxable wages.

Paystub Requirements

Georgia does not have a specific statute requiring itemized paystubs, but you should provide them anyway for clear recordkeeping. Each paystub should show: gross wages, hours worked, deductions (federal income tax, FICA, GA PIT if withheld), net pay, and pay period dates.

With Nest Payroll: Nest generates a compliant earnings statement (pay stub) for every pay period — automatically. You can email each stub to your employee from the app, or download a PDF.

Time off & leave

Paid Sick Leave — none required statewide

Georgia does not have a statewide paid sick leave law, and no city in Georgia has enacted a local paid sick leave ordinance. Sick time is offered at the employer's discretion.

If you choose to offer sick leave, common household-employer practice is 5–10 days/year, usable for the employee's own illness or to care for an immediate family member.

Vacation & PTO

Georgia does not require paid vacation. If you offer it, document the policy in writing — under Georgia law, vacation pay is enforceable to the extent your written policy states it will be paid out at separation. A clear policy with a written cap (or "no payout at separation" provision) protects you.

Frontloading at the start of each year is the simplest approach. If you offer paid vacation, set the annual amount upfront and let your employee draw against it as time is used. See our frontload PTO & payout guide for the calculation method when payout applies.

Upon departure

When the working relationship ends — whether the employee resigns or you terminate — Georgia’s final pay rule (O.C.G.A. § 34-7) requires final wages to be paid by the next regular payday following separation.

At separation, give your employee a final paystub and a copy of any timekeeping records you've maintained. If you've offered vacation as part of your written policy, pay out the earned-but-unused portion (pro-rated through the last day worked, at the final rate of pay) per your policy.

Year-end forms

Your responsibilities

  • Hand the W-2 to your household employee by January 31 — Nest produces this; you deliver it
  • Attach Schedule H to your Form 1040 by April 15 — Nest produces a signature-ready version

What Nest handles for you

  • Quarterly federal tax payments to the IRS via EFTPS
  • W-3 + Copy A of W-2 filed with the Social Security Administration
  • Quarterly DOL-4N filings with the Georgia Department of Labor once registration applies
  • G-1003 annual reconciliation with the Georgia Department of Revenue when Georgia withholding applies
With Nest Payroll: Your tax forms are generated automatically and appear in your Tax Summary by the end of January.
Bonuses and vacation payouts: Bonuses and vacation payouts are included on your employee's W-2 and taxed through regular payroll withholding calculations.

Tax breaks for household employers

Two federal tax breaks may help offset your nanny payroll costs:

1. Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA). Through your employer's benefits, you can set aside up to $7,500/year (2026 OBBBA increase from $5,000) in pre-tax dollars to pay for childcare for kids under 13. This typically saves 25–35% on the contributed amount, depending on your federal + state tax bracket.
2. Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit. On your federal Form 1040, claim 20–35% of qualifying childcare expenses (up to $3,000 for one child / $6,000 for two or more). The percentage scales based on your AGI.

For nannies caring for school-aged kids, families often use the DCFSA first (better tax savings for most), then claim the credit on any expenses above the FSA limit. Note: you cannot claim the same expenses under both — but you can split them.

Resources & free tools

🧮 Nanny Payroll Calculator ⏪ Catch-Up Calculator ↗ Gross-Up Calculator 📄 Free Contract Template 🏖️ Frontload PTO & Payout Guide 📚 Nanny Payroll 101

The information on this page is general in nature and not tax, legal, or financial advice. Georgia rules change. Verify current rates and rules at Georgia Department of Revenue and Georgia Department of Labor, or consult a tax advisor.