Paying for Childcare as Federal Employee

[Anonymous]

Hi all - I am looking for how others handle this issue anecdotally, I really do not want to be shamed or ridiculed for asking.

I’m an employee of a federal agency (think JD/enforcement type role with public trust clearance). I have two kids and am in desperate need of childcare and household help. I’ve posted on Facebook moms groups, care.com, and used an agency. I cannot find someone for my life! The vast majority of candidates I speak to are not willing to be paid on a W-2, all have said they want cash. I’m willing to pay more to ensure the candidates take home the same pay, offering $25-30 in a Midwest city with lower cost of living compared to the east coast.

Have any other federal employees or spouses of federal employees had this issue? How do you pay your childcare/house help? Any tips for finding someone who is both experienced and willing to be paid on a W-2?

[Anonymous]

Do not risk your clearance for this. How about looking at childcare facilities/aftercare instead of a nanny? For the home cleaning etc help you have to hire a company versus a person.

[Anonymous]

Au pair

[Anonymous]

What does you being a federal employee have to do with childcare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not risk your clearance for this. How about looking at childcare facilities/aftercare instead of a nanny? For the home cleaning etc help you have to hire a company versus a person.

Thank you! Definitely not looking to risk my clearance or raise any flags. My kids are in full-time school/daycare, but I still need someone to assist with pick ups and drop offs and the morning/evening hours outside of school/daycare. My agency is hybrid, so we’re just making it work between my husband and I but it really is untenable with two full time jobs.

[Anonymous]

Im sorry, that is really frustrating I live in DC and we did not have trouble finding someone willing to be paid on the books, but maybe the market is really different in your city. Are you planning to use a payroll service? We used SurePayroll but there are others. Maybe explaining that you will use a service—and pay overtime—will help attract candidates? We were able to do direct deposit with SurePayroll, which our child care providers loved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im sorry, that is really frustrating I live in DC and we did not have trouble finding someone willing to be paid on the books, but maybe the market is really different in your city. Are you planning to use a payroll service? We used SurePayroll but there are others. Maybe explaining that you will use a service—and pay overtime—will help attract candidates? We were able to do direct deposit with SurePayroll, which our child care providers loved.

Thanks! I’ll definitely use a payroll service once I am able to find someone. Maybe I need to be better about explaining how it will work, thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does you being a federal employee have to do with childcare?

A lot of us can't hire illegal immigrants and need to report all foreigners. We also need to pay on the books versus cash under the table.

[Anonymous]

We had luck finding a college student for after school child care—we guaranteed her a certain number of hours each week. So sometimes we were paying for extra hours but it appealed to her because the after school gigs are pretty short time spans (say 2 hours), so the guarantee made it worth her while to commute. And she was happy to be a w2 employee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does you being a federal employee have to do with childcare?

She has a low level security clearance which requires that she pay household employees above board - she must file taxes as an employer. No cash employee's for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not risk your clearance for this. How about looking at childcare facilities/aftercare instead of a nanny? For the home cleaning etc help you have to hire a company versus a person.

Thank you! Definitely not looking to risk my clearance or raise any flags. My kids are in full-time school/daycare, but I still need someone to assist with pick ups and drop offs and the morning/evening hours outside of school/daycare. My agency is hybrid, so we’re just making it work between my husband and I but it really is untenable with two full time jobs.

Exactly. Properly raising children and upkeeping a home IS a full time job! Half-assed winging it, is not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

We pay our cleaners with a check. I have no idea whether they report the income but I don't see it as my problem any more so than when I hire people for repairs or other work on the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does you being a federal employee have to do with childcare?

She has a low level security clearance which requires that she pay household employees above board - she must file taxes as an employer. No cash employee's for us.

What does all this has to do with Clearence except foreign nationals living in your house to hiring legal people. Paying cash or by check doesn't make any difference for Clearence as long as the person receiving money is legal in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay our cleaners with a check. I have no idea whether they report the income but I don't see it as my problem any more so than when I hire people for repairs or other work on the house.

This is different than a full time employee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does you being a federal employee have to do with childcare?

She has a low level security clearance which requires that she pay household employees above board - she must file taxes as an employer. No cash employee's for us.

What does all this has to do with Clearence except foreign nationals living in your house to hiring legal people. Paying cash or by check doesn't make any difference for Clearence as long as the person receiving money is legal in this country.

Umm you can't just "pay cash" and it be above board. You need to pay payroll taxes, health insurance and other employer items.