What Should be Included on Your Nanny’s Pay Stub?

Paying your nanny is not as easy as cutting them a check or handing them cash on payday. You’re an employer and they’re your worker so there are laws to follow as with any type of employment. You have taxes to deduct, overtime to calculate, and a pay stub to issue.

Yes, nannies and other household employees should get a pay stub every pay period even if they’re being paid electronically (PayPal, Venmo, etc.) or by direct deposit.

In fact, 41 states require that you provide an itemized pay stub to your employee (see chart below). Even if it’s not required in your state, it’s highly recommended to provide a pay stub.

This helps protects your employee from wage theft, which includes:

• Not being paid for all hours worked
• Not being paid at least time-and-a-half for overtime hours
• Improper or unauthorized deductions

Providing a pay stub will also help answer any questions as to how you determined your employee’s gross and net pay. They can feel confident they’re being paid fairly for all hours worked and the correct deductions are being made.

You may even want to keep weekly timesheets that shows when your employee started and ended work each day in a pay period, so everyone is on the same page as far as hours worked.

Now that you know that you may need to (or should) provide a pay stub and the reasons behind it, let’s look at what should be included on your nanny’s pay stub.

Your nanny’s pay stub

The items that should make up your nanny’s pay stub include:

• Your name and address
• Employee’s name
• Date of payment
• Pay period covered by payment
• Pay rate for regular and overtime hours
• Number of regular and overtime hours worked in the pay period
• Itemized list of deductions from wages, which typically include:
  • FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare)
  • Federal income tax
  • State income tax (if applicable)
  • Local income tax (if applicable)
  • Other state deductions like disability insurance and/or paid family leave if required
  • Employee contributions to health insurance and/or retirement plan
  • Garnishments for unpaid income or property taxes and fines (you may be legally required to garnish an employee’s paycheck if they owe money to the state or federal government)
• Gross wages
  • Gross wages = (Regular hours x hourly rate) + (Overtime hours x time-and-a-half)
• Net wages/take-home pay (or amount of the pay check)
  • Employee’s take-home pay = Gross wages – deductions
• Year-to-date accruals of deductions
• Additions to wages, if any

Keeping records

Every time you pay your employee and provide a pay stub you should retain a copy for your records. This will save you a tremendous amount of time at the end of the year when you need to issue your employee their Form W-2, which details how much they earned and the taxes deducted so they can file their tax return. You’ll also need their pay records to complete Schedule H and file your own taxes.

Since nannies and other household employees are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Department of Labor requires employers to keep certain records for their workers. These records must include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. Visit the DOL’s Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act web page and click “Recordkeeping” for a list of these records. Or download Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act as a PDF.

GTM can help

You can skip the hassles of creating pay stubs and many of the other time-consuming tasks of being a household employer by letting GTM Payroll Services handle it all. We’ll automatically generate pay stubs each pay period for your nanny, pay your nanny with a live check or direct deposit, and keep track of all accruals and deductions. It’s that simple. Your nanny’s pay stubs are also available in your secure, online account for easy access whenever you need them. Want to learn more? Call (800) 929-9213 for a complimentary, no-obligation consultation with a household employment expert.

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Pay stub requirements by state

No requirement

These states do not require employers to provide pay stubs for their employees.

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Florida
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Ohio
• South Dakota
• Tennessee

Electronic pay stubs allowed

These states require employers to provide pay stubs to their employees. It doesn’t have to be a physical copy. Electronic pay stubs are allowed.

• Alaska
• Arizona
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Utah
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Physical or printable pay stubs

These states require employers to provide physical pay stubs or electronic versions that can be printed.

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Iowa
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Texas
• Vermont
• Washington

Electonic pay stub allowed with employee consent

These states allow electronic pay stubs. However, employees may opt-out of paperless delivery and start receiving physical pay stubs.

• Delaware
• Minnesota
• Oregon

This state allows electronic pay stubs. However, employees must opt-in to an electronic delivery system. Otherwise, employees need to receive a paper-based version of their pay stub.

• Hawaii