New York Household Employer Guide 2026
Your household employee — a nanny, caregiver, housekeeper, or anyone who works in your NY home — is a W-2 employee with rights under the New York Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights. Here's what household employers need to know for 2026: payroll taxes, weekly pay, insurance coverage, paid leave, and year-end forms.
Start Payroll Free →When the rules apply
New York is one of the most protective states for domestic workers in the country. Each tax threshold is a trigger. Once you cross one, the corresponding taxes apply to the wages that triggered the crossing — not just the amount above the threshold.
Hours-based triggers (different from wage thresholds)
New York also has hours-based triggers that require specific insurance coverage, regardless of total wages.
Hours-based insurance triggers
AND 30+ days/yr
OR live-in
How Nest Payroll handles this
When you start payroll, Nest registers you with the NY Department of Labor and NY Department of Taxation & Finance, obtains your federal EIN, and generates compliant weekly pay stubs. Each pay period, you pay your employee the net amount directly — through Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, your banking app, or by check.
For PFL and disability insurance premiums, you can either withhold from your employee's paycheck where allowed, or pay the premiums yourself as a benefit. Most household employers choose to pay these themselves — see Section 9 below.
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.
New York state taxes — quarterly NYS-45 filings
NY state payroll filings are handled through the consolidated NYS-45 return. Nest files NYS-45 each quarter with NYS Tax & Finance and debits your account for the amount due.
1. Obtain workers' comp, disability, and PFL insurance
Workers' comp, disability benefits (DBL), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) are not part of payroll. You obtain these through a separate insurance carrier — and which coverages you need depends on your employee's hours.
Coverage requirements at a glance
- Workers' Comp: Required if your employee works 40+ hours per week, OR if they're a live-in employee (any hours).
- Disability + PFL: Required if your employee works 20+ hours per week AND will work 30+ days in a calendar year for you.
How NY counts "hours worked" (broader than you might think)
For DBL/PFL coverage purposes, NY counts all time the employer requires the worker's presence — not just active work hours. This includes:
- Time spent at the residence — including sleeping and eating
- Time off-premises running errands or performing other duties for the employer
- On-call time when the employer requires the worker's presence
Example: If you go away for two full days and your domestic worker is required to be present, that counts as 48 hours worked — easily crossing the 20-hour weekly trigger for disability and PFL coverage.
How to obtain coverage — step-by-step
You have three paths. For most household employers, NYSIF's eQuote is the simplest and fastest:
Path 1: NYSIF Domestic Worker eQuote (recommended)
The New York State Insurance Fund offers an instant online quote system specifically for household employers with fewer than 10 domestic workers. The whole application is just 6 questions and you can be covered the same day.
- Go to nysif.com and click "Get a Quote"
- Create an NYSIF online account (or log in if you have one)
- Choose "Request a Domestic Policy Quote"
- Answer 6 short questions about your household and worker(s)
- Receive your quote on-screen
- Sign electronically (DocuSign) and pay the premium deposit online
Coverage is effective at 12:01 a.m. EST the day after NYSIF receives your signed application and deposit.
The same NYSIF account can also issue your separate Disability Benefits (DBL) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) policy — request a "DB/PFL Quote" the same way. Most household employers obtain both policies from NYSIF since it consolidates everything in one place.
Path 2: Add a rider to your homeowner's or renter's insurance
Many homeowner's and renter's insurance policies offer a "household employer" rider that bundles workers' comp, DBL, and PFL coverage. Call your existing insurance carrier or broker and ask:
- "I'm hiring a household employee — does my policy include workers' comp, disability, and Paid Family Leave coverage as a rider?"
- If yes, request a quote for adding it. If no, ask which carrier they recommend.
For a list of NY-licensed PFL carriers, see the NY Department of Financial Services PFL Carriers list.
Path 3: Call the NYS Workers' Comp Board directly
If you're stuck or have a complex situation (such as multiple employees or unusual coverage needs), call the NYS Workers' Comp Board for guidance:
1-866-298-7830 (M–F, 8:30am–4:30pm ET)
They won't sell you a policy directly, but they can walk you through your options.
- Your federal EIN (Nest issues this when you sign up)
- Estimated annual payroll for the household worker(s)
- Your home address (the work location)
- Basic info about the work being performed (childcare, eldercare, housekeeping, etc.)
- Coverage start date
2. Have your household employee complete the I-9
Federal law requires all employers to verify employment eligibility using Form I-9. Complete this before your household employee's first day of work.
3. Have your household employee complete the W-4 and IT-2104
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.
New York also requires a Form IT-2104 (Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate) for state income tax withholding. NYC residents may need to complete additional NYC-specific allowances on the same form.
4. Report your new hire
Within 20 days of hire, you must report your new household employee to the NY New Hire Reporting Center. This requirement applies to all NY employers, including household.
5. Provide the NY wage notice (LS-54)
Under the Wage Theft Prevention Act, NY employers must provide a written wage notice (Form LS-54 for hourly workers) at hire and any time wages change. The notice must include:
- Pay rate (regular and overtime)
- How wages are calculated (hourly, weekly, etc.)
- Designated payday
- Employer's name, address, and phone number
- Allowances claimed (meals, lodging, etc.)
Print two copies — both employee and employer must sign and date both. Keep both copies on file (one for employee, one for your records).
6. Provide the "Know Your Rights at Work" notice (NYC)
NYC employers — including families with household help — must post and distribute the "Know Your Rights at Work" notice, which serves as a comprehensive guide to NYC workplace rights.
The notice covers:
- Paid Safe and Sick Leave
- Temporary Schedule Changes
- Domestic worker rights under NYC Human Rights Law
- Sexual harassment protections
Required to be posted in a visible location and distributed directly to each employee in their primary language.
7. Create a written work agreement
While not legally required beyond the wage notice, a written employment agreement prevents misunderstandings about hours, duties, PTO, and house rules.
Build a free contract with our editable template: Nest Payroll Household Employee Contract Builder — fill it out and download as a PDF.
Hand In Hand, a non-profit supporting domestic employers and employees, also offers free sample contracts and guidebooks.
8. Follow the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights
New York's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights (NY Labor Law §161-A) gives household employees specific protections beyond standard FLSA rules. As an NY household employer, you're required to comply.
Minimum Wage (2026)
NY's minimum wage varies by region. The state set the final scheduled increase effective January 1, 2026, with future increases tied to the regional CPI starting in 2027.
| Region | Rate |
|---|---|
| New York City (all 5 boroughs) | $17.00/hr |
| Long Island (Nassau & Suffolk) | $17.00/hr |
| Westchester County | $17.00/hr |
| Rest of New York State | $16.00/hr |
Overtime
Under the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, NY household employees must be paid time-and-a-half for overtime:
| Condition | Rate |
|---|---|
| Live-out employee, more than 40 hours in a week | 1.5× hourly |
| Live-in employee, more than 44 hours in a week | 1.5× hourly |
| Work performed on agreed-upon day of rest | 1.5× hourly |
The 13-Hour Rule (24-hour shifts)
If you ask your domestic worker to work a 24-hour shift — common for live-in nannies or senior care during overnight stays — you only need to pay for 13 hours, provided you give them:
- 8 hours of sleep, with at least 5 hours uninterrupted
- 3 hours for meal breaks
If sleep is interrupted (less than 5 uninterrupted hours) or meal breaks are not provided, the full 24 hours must be paid. This rule applies most often to senior caregivers and live-in nannies asked to stay overnight.
"No Tax on Overtime" Deduction (2025–2028)
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 2025, your household employee may be able to deduct the premium portion of their overtime pay — the "half" in time-and-a-half — from their federal taxable income.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| What's deductible | Only the premium (0.5×) portion of FLSA overtime |
| Max deduction (single) | $12,500/year |
| Max deduction (joint) | $25,000/year |
| Income phaseout | $150,000 MAGI ($300,000 joint) |
| Duration | Tax years 2025–2028 |
Paid Sick Leave
Under NY State's Sick Leave Law (NY Labor Law §196-b), household employees accrue up to 40 hours of sick leave per year, at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Sick leave can be used for the employee's own illness or medical appointments, or to care for a family member.
For most household employers, NY's sick leave is unpaid — paid status applies to employers with 5+ employees, or employers with 4 or fewer employees but net income over $1 million in the prior tax year. NYC and Westchester County have separate paid requirements that override this for households in those areas (see callouts below).
Records of accrual and usage must be maintained for 6 years, and you must provide a summary to your employee within 3 business days of their request.
Accrual vs. frontloading — and why frontloading is simpler
NY law gives you two ways to provide sick leave:
Frontloading is generally better for household employers for three reasons:
- No accrual tracking. You don't need to monitor the 1-per-30 rate or true-up at year end.
- No payout at separation. Frontloaded statutory sick leave doesn't have to be paid out when the employee leaves — that's true universally, in every U.S. state.
- Annual reset. Frontloaded sick leave can reset to the full annual amount each year, whereas accrued sick leave generally carries over and complicates the tracking.
You're still responsible for: providing written notice of your sick leave policy at hire, keeping records of leave provided and used for 6 years, and meeting all other NY/NYC rules.
- Paid Sick Time: 40 hours of paid sick time required if employee has worked more than 80 hours per year.
- Safe Time: Additional 40 hours of safe time required for employees who have worked more than 90 days in a calendar year.
Paid Prenatal Personal Leave
Under NY Labor Law §196-b(4-a) (effective January 1, 2025), all NY employers — including households — must provide 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave per year, separate from sick leave. Available regardless of employer size, for prenatal medical appointments, fertility treatment, and related care.
Domestic Violence Victim Leave
NY employers — including households — must grant a reasonable amount of leave to employees who are victims of domestic violence (or whose child is a victim) for purposes such as: seeking medical attention, accessing a shelter or rape crisis center, obtaining counseling, safety planning, or attending court for the offense.
You may require advance notice or documentation when the leave is foreseeable. An exception applies only if you can show the leave would cause undue hardship.
Day of Rest & Paid Days Off
Under the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights:
- One day of rest (24 consecutive hours) per week. If employee agrees to work, they must be paid overtime for those hours.
- Paid days off per year (after one year of employment), tiered by average weekly hours:
- 30+ hours/week → 3 paid days
- 20–29 hours/week → 2 paid days
- Under 20 hours/week → 1 paid day
Vacation & PTO
NY law doesn't require you to provide vacation beyond the DWBR-mandated paid days off above, but most household employers offer additional vacation as part of a competitive compensation package. If you offer vacation, NY treats it as earned wages with a presumption of payout at separation — unless your written policy or work agreement clearly states otherwise.
This is the policy-default rule: silent policy = pay out. NY case law (Glenville Gage Co. v. Industrial Bd. of Appeals and follow-on decisions) has consistently treated accrued vacation as wages absent a clear contrary written policy. If you intend a "use it or lose it" or no-payout policy, document it clearly in writing at hire.
For the portion that does have to be paid out (the DWBR-mandated days, plus any vacation under a payout-presumption policy), the calculation is the earned-but-unused portion through the last day worked, at the final rate of pay. Vacation accrues pro-rata as labor is performed — not in a lump sum at year start, even if you frontloaded it.
- Keep sick separate from vacation. If you combine sick and vacation into a single "PTO" bank, the entire balance gets characterized as vacation — converting the no-payout sick portion into payable wages at separation. Track sick and vacation as separate buckets on the pay stub.
- Rehire-within-12-months sick reinstatement. If you let an employee go and rehire them within 12 months, any previously unused sick leave generally must be reinstated. (Vacation reinstatement depends on your written policy.)
- Vacation pays pro-rata, not the full balance. If you frontloaded 80 hours and your employee used 16 before separating in June, you owe 24 earned-but-unused hours (40 earned at half-year × pro-rata, minus 16 used) — not the full 64 unused hours.
See our Frontload PTO Payout guide for the full pro-rata framework, worked example, and tax treatment.
Pay Frequency — Weekly Required
Household employees are virtually always hourly under federal FLSA — even when you've agreed to pay a "salary," it's treated as a wage covering a fixed number of hours per week, with overtime owed on hours past 40. Under NY Labor Law §191(1)(a), manual workers must be paid weekly, with wages due within 7 calendar days after the end of the work week in which they were earned. Domestic workers — including nannies, caregivers, housekeepers, and most household employees — qualify as manual workers because their work involves physical labor.
This is one of the strictest pay-frequency rules in the country. NY does not permit bi-weekly or semi-monthly pay for household employees as a normal matter. The DOL can grant a variance to pay manual workers less frequently than weekly, but only to employers with an average of 1,000+ NY employees over the past three years — which excludes every household employer.
Meal Breaks
If your employee works a shift longer than 6 hours, they're entitled to at least 30 minutes free from duty for a meal period. Meal breaks are unpaid. Short rest breaks (5–20 minutes), if you offer them, are considered work time and must be paid.
Sexual Harassment Prevention — Required
All NY employers — including households — must adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and provide annual training to employees. NY State provides a free model policy and training materials you can adopt.
Domestic workers are also fully protected under the NY State Human Rights Law for all purposes — covering anti-discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation protections regardless of how many employees you have.
- NY State Model Sexual Harassment Policy
- NY State Model Training
- NYC employers: Provide your employee the Stop Sexual Harassment Act fact sheet
Senior caregivers — which minimum wage applies?
If you're hiring a caregiver for a senior or someone with a disability, you may have seen NY's "home care aide" minimum wage of $19.65/hour (NYC, Long Island, Westchester) or $18.65/hour (rest of state). Whether that rate applies depends on how the work is paid for.
This is a lot to track on your own.
Nest Payroll handles payroll, tax filings, W-2s, and compliance — starting at $42/mo. 14-day free trial.
9. New York Paid Family Leave (PFL)
NY's Paid Family Leave is structured to be funded by employee payroll deductions — but as an employer, you have a choice: withhold from your employee's paycheck, or pay the premium yourself as a benefit. Most household employers choose to pay it themselves.
Two ways to handle it
Either way, you must obtain PFL insurance coverage (typically as a rider on your disability policy through NYSIF or a private carrier).
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Premium rate | 0.432% of gross wages |
| Annual maximum premium | $411.91/year |
| NY Statewide Average Weekly Wage (NYSAWW) | $1,833.63 |
| Maximum weekly PFL benefit | $1,228.53/week |
| Maximum total benefit (12 weeks) | $14,742.36 |
| Length of leave | Up to 12 weeks |
Eligibility: Available to employees working 20+ hours/week after 26 consecutive weeks of employment, or part-time employees (under 20 hrs/week) after 175 days of employment.
Qualifying reasons: Bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or handling personal matters arising from a family member's military deployment.
10. Mileage reimbursement
NY law doesn't mandate mileage reimbursement, but you must reimburse necessary work-related driving expenses if those costs would otherwise reduce your employee's wages below the minimum wage. Most employers use the IRS standard rate:
$0.725 per mile (2026)
Common examples: driving children to activities, running household errands, taking a client to medical appointments. (Commuting to/from work doesn't count.)
11. Paystub requirements
Under NY Labor Law §195(3), every pay stub must be itemized and provided with each paycheck. Because domestic workers must be paid weekly (see Pay Frequency), this means a weekly itemized pay stub is required.
Each pay stub must include:
- Pay period dates (start and end of the work week)
- Gross wages
- Total hours worked (including overtime hours separately)
- Pay rate (regular and overtime)
- Deductions itemized (FICA, NY state tax, NYC or Yonkers tax if applicable, PFL, etc.)
- Net pay
- Employer name, address, phone
Records must be retained for 6 years.
Upon departure
Final wages: Pay no later than the regular payday for the pay period in which separation occurred. If your employee requests payment by mail, you must comply.
Earned-but-unused vacation: NY treats accrued vacation as earned wages with a presumption of payout at separation, unless your written policy or work agreement clearly states otherwise. If payout applies, calculate the earned-but-unused portion pro-rata through the last day worked at the final rate of pay. Frontloaded statutory sick leave doesn't have to be paid out (universally true, every state). See Vacation & PTO above and our Frontload PTO Payout guide for details.
Required notices at departure:
- Within 5 working days, provide written notice of termination date and benefits cancellation date
- Provide Record of Employment (Form IA 12.3) — covers employer name, registration number, and where wage records are kept
- Provide federal Form W-2 by the regular January 31 deadline (or earlier if requested)
Year-end forms
Your responsibilities
- Hand the W-2 to your household employee by January 31 — Nest produces this; you deliver it (PFL contributions reported in Box 14)
- Attach Schedule H to your Form 1040 by April 15 — Schedule H reconciles the federal taxes Nest already paid quarterly through EFTPS; Nest produces a signature-ready version
What Nest handles for you
- Quarterly federal tax payments to the IRS via EFTPS (FUTA, employer + employee FICA, federal income tax withheld)
- W-3 + Copy A of W-2 filed with the Social Security Administration
- NYS-45 quarterly filings with NYS Tax & Finance (state UI, state income tax, NYC/Yonkers tax)
- Year-end reconciliation for NY state withholding via NYS-45-ATT if applicable
Tax breaks for household employers
Paying your household employee legally unlocks meaningful federal tax breaks that often offset most of your employer-side payroll tax cost.
Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA)
For 2026, the federal max contribution is $7,500 (married filing jointly) — up significantly from prior years under the OBBBA. Note: your employer's specific plan may still cap at $5,000.
Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit
Up to 50% of qualifying care expenses for 2026 — up from 35% in 2025. Capped at $3,000 of expenses for one qualifying child or $6,000 for two or more. At the 50% rate, a family with two or more dependents could receive a credit of up to $3,000.
→ See our complete guide to nanny tax breaks — includes DCFSA, Care Credit, EAP (Educational Assistance Program), and ICHRA (health reimbursement).
Resources & free tools
Ready to pay your NY household employee legally?
Nest Payroll handles EIN setup, NY state registrations, payroll calculations, weekly pay stubs, and quarterly tax filings — all automatically. 14-day free trial.
Disclaimer: The information on this page is general in nature. This is not tax, legal, benefits, financial, or HR advice. Rules and regulations change over time and vary by location. Workers' compensation, disability, and PFL coverage requirements can be complex — consult an attorney, financial advisor, or licensed insurance broker for your specific situation.