Montana Household Employer Guide 2026
Your household employee — a nanny, caregiver, housekeeper, or anyone who works in your Montana home — is a W-2 employee. Montana is a moderate household-payroll state: two-bracket state income tax, employer-paid unemployment insurance, a state minimum wage above the federal floor, no statewide paid leave, and workers' compensation generally not required for casual household employment.
Start Payroll Free →When the rules apply
Montana household employers mainly need to watch the federal payroll thresholds and the $1,000 quarterly Montana 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 Montana DLI.
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.
Montana state taxes — quarterly UI filings
Each quarter, Nest files the Quarterly UI Contribution and Wage Report with the Montana Department of Labor & Industry through the UI eServices portal — an employer-paid contribution, not withheld from your employee.
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Nest handles MT UI registration, paystubs, quarterly Montana DLI filings, and year-end Schedule H — all for $42/mo.
Setup checklist (before they start)
Montana Workers' Compensation Insurance — voluntary for casual household employment
Under Mont. Code § 39-71-401(2), casual employment in private homes is excluded from Montana's mandatory workers' compensation coverage. You are not required to carry workers' comp for a household employee in most cases.
However, you can voluntarily elect coverage by purchasing a household-employer workers' comp policy through any licensed Montana insurance carrier or through the Montana State Fund — Montana's state-affiliated 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 MW-4 (Montana withholding certificate)
The federal W-4 determines how much federal income tax to withhold from each paycheck. Montana requires its own state withholding certificate, Form MW-4. The 2026 version was revised to closely align with the federal W-4 method — Montana eliminated its custom personal/dependent allowance system in favor of filing-status-based calculation.
Montana New Hire Reporting
Report new hires to the Montana New Hire Reporting Program within 20 days of the start date. You can file online at the link above. Federal law requires this; MT 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
- Montana required workplace posters (Montana DLI — required posters)
- Montana 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
Montana does not require a written employment agreement, but it's strongly recommended — and worth special attention in Montana for one specific reason: without a written final-pay policy, employer-initiated terminations require final wages within 3 business days; with a written policy, the deadline becomes the next regular payday or 15 days, whichever is sooner. 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
Montana's minimum wage is $10.85/hr in 2026 (Mont. Code § 39-3-409, CPI-adjusted annually each January 1). Montana preempts municipal minimum wage ordinances under §7-1-4123, so the state floor applies statewide. In practice, household-employer market rates are well above the floor; nanny pay in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, and Helena typically ranges from $15–$22/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 Montana 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 Mont. Code § 39-3-204, employers must pay wages at least every 15 days on regular paydays designated in advance. Most household payroll arrangements pay weekly or biweekly to keep cash flow predictable for both sides.
Mileage Reimbursement
Montana 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
Montana 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, MT PIT), net pay, and pay period dates.
Time off & leave
Paid Sick Leave — none required statewide
Montana does not have a statewide paid sick leave law, and no city in Montana 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 — Montana treats accrued vacation as wages
Montana does not require employers to provide paid vacation, but if you do offer it, the state has an unusually strong rule: under Mont. Code §39-3-205, 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.
Montana'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, Montana's final pay rule depends on whether you have a written policy: without a written final-pay policy, employer-initiated terminations require final wages within 3 business days of discharge (Mont. Code § 39-3-205). With a written policy, the deadline becomes the next regular payday or 15 days, whichever is sooner. For employee resignations, final pay is due on the next regular payday.
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 Contribution and Wage Report with the Montana Department of Labor & Industry (handled throughout the year by Nest once you cross the $1,000 quarterly threshold)
- Form MW-3 (Annual Withholding Reconciliation) filed electronically with the Montana 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. Montana rules change. Verify current rates and rules at Montana Department of Revenue and Montana Department of Labor & Industry, or consult a tax advisor.