Louisiana Household Employer Guide 2026
Your household employee — a nanny, caregiver, housekeeper, or anyone who works in your Louisiana home — is a W-2 employee. Louisiana is one of the simpler household-payroll states: flat 3% state income tax, employer-paid unemployment insurance, no statewide paid leave, no PFML, and workers' compensation generally not required for most household employers.
Start Payroll Free →When the rules apply
Louisiana household employers mainly need to watch the federal payroll thresholds and the $1,000 quarterly Louisiana unemployment threshold:
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. We calculate accurate withholdings on every pay stub from day one. Once you cross the $1,000 quarterly threshold, we register you with the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
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.
Louisiana state taxes — quarterly UI filings
Each quarter, Nest files the Form L-1 / L-3 (Quarterly UI Wage Report) with the Louisiana Workforce Commission for state UI tax — an employer-paid contribution, not withheld from your employee.
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Nest handles LA UI registration, paystubs, quarterly Louisiana Workforce Commission filings, and year-end Schedule H — all for $42/mo.
Setup checklist (before they start)
Louisiana Workers' Compensation Insurance — voluntary for households
Under La. R.S. 23:1035, household domestic workers in private homes and casual employees are excluded from Louisiana's mandatory workers' compensation coverage. You are not required to carry workers' comp for a household employee.
However, you can voluntarily elect coverage by purchasing a household-employer workers' comp policy through any licensed Louisiana insurance carrier or through the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) — Louisiana's largest workers' comp carrier. Voluntary coverage shields you from common-law negligence suits if your worker is injured on the job, and gives your employee predictable benefits without litigation.
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 + Form L-4 (Louisiana withholding certificate)
The federal W-4 determines how much federal income tax to withhold from each paycheck. Louisiana requires its own state withholding certificate, Form L-4 (R-1300), used to claim state-level personal exemptions ($1,000 per dependent) and choose the standard deduction tier.
Louisiana New Hire Reporting
Report new hires to the Louisiana New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the start date. You can file online at the link above. Federal law requires this; LA penalty for failure is up to $25 per missed report.
Required Employment Posters
Even with a single household employee, the following workplace posters are required (or equivalent notification, since your home isn't a typical workplace):
- Federal posters: FLSA, FMLA, EEO, USERRA, Polygraph Protection
- Louisiana required workplace posters (Louisiana Workforce Commission — required posters)
- Louisiana Unemployment Insurance poster
For a household setting, a single binder kept in a common area satisfies the posting obligation in most cases.
Written Work Agreement
Louisiana 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
Louisiana has no state minimum wage statute; the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum of $7.25/hr applies. There are no statewide local minimum wage ordinances; New Orleans previously enacted a local minimum wage but it was preempted by state law. In practice, household-employer market rates are well above the federal floor; nanny pay in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and Lafayette typically ranges from $14–$20/hr depending on experience and responsibilities.
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 Louisiana has no state OT requirement that overrides this.
| Worker type | OT trigger | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Live-out (most nannies, housekeepers, caregivers) | Over 40 hr/week | 1.5× regular |
| Live-in | FLSA-exempt — no OT required | 1.0× regular |
"No Tax on Overtime" Deduction (2025–2028)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, July 2025) created a temporary federal income-tax deduction for overtime premiums earned 2025–2028. Employees may deduct up to $12,500 of qualifying OT premium pay annually ($25,000 if married filing jointly). This is a federal income tax deduction at filing time — it does NOT exempt OT from FICA or state income tax, and it does NOT change paystub withholding. Employers must report the qualifying OT premium portion separately on the W-2 (Box 14 or a designated code). Nest Payroll handles this automatically.
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 La. R.S. 23:633, employers with 10 or more employees must pay wages at least twice monthly; smaller employers including households may pay at least monthly on regular paydays designated in advance. Most household payroll arrangements pay weekly or biweekly to keep cash flow predictable for both sides.
Mileage Reimbursement
Louisiana 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
Louisiana 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, LA PIT), net pay, and pay period dates.
Time off & leave
Paid Sick Leave — none required statewide
Louisiana does not have a statewide paid sick leave law, and no city in Louisiana 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 — Louisiana treats accrued vacation as wages
Louisiana does not require employers to provide paid vacation, but if you do offer it, the state has an unusually strong rule: under La. R.S. 23:631 + 23:634 and Beard v. Summit Institute (La. 1998), accrued unused vacation is treated as wages, and forfeiture provisions ("use it or lose it" or "forfeit on departure") are not enforceable. At separation, you must pay out all earned-but-unused vacation pro-rated through the last day worked, at the final rate of pay — even if your written policy says otherwise.
Louisiana's rule places it among a small group of states that treat vacation as a fully vested wage. This is the strongest possible vacation-payout rule: the law overrides any employer policy attempting to restrict the payout obligation.
Upon departure
When the working relationship ends — whether the employee resigns or you terminate — Louisiana's final pay rule (La. R.S. 23:631) requires final wages to be paid on or before the next regular payday or within 15 days following the date of discharge or resignation, whichever is sooner.
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
By the end of January each year, you'll need to deliver:
- W-2 to your household employee — for their personal tax return
- W-3 + Copy A of W-2 filed with the Social Security Administration
- Schedule H attached to your personal Form 1040 by April 15
- Quarterly UI Wage Report with the Louisiana Workforce Commission (handled throughout the year by Nest once you cross the $1,000 quarterly threshold)
- Form L-3 (Annual Withholding Report) filed electronically with the Louisiana Department of Revenue by January 31
Bonuses, vacation payouts, and other supplemental wages. Nest uses the aggregate method for federal income tax withholding: bonuses, PTO payouts, and other supplemental wage payments are combined with regular wages and withheld at the worker's regular W-4 rate — not the flat 22% federal supplemental rate. For most household workers, this produces a slightly larger net check than the flat method would.
Tax breaks for household employers
Two federal tax breaks may help offset your nanny payroll costs:
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
The information on this page is general in nature and not tax, legal, or financial advice. Louisiana rules change. Verify current rates and rules at Louisiana Department of Revenue and Louisiana Workforce Commission, or consult a tax advisor.