Texas household employment guide
Before hiring a nanny, housekeeper, or newborn care specialist in Texas, define the work and assign the employment setup tasks. Federal wage and tax rules and Texas reporting and pay requirements address different parts of the arrangement. This guide is a starting point for private households, not a complete treatment of agency employment or publicly funded care programs.
Reviewed October 20, 2026. Check the linked official guidance before relying on rates, deadlines, or coverage rules for a later period.
1. Establish the working relationship
Write down who chooses the duties, hours, work location, tools, and method of work. Identify any agency or second household involved. A contract label or payment app does not by itself decide employee status. Use the household employee basics for the federal tax starting point and ask a qualified adviser to review the actual facts for each applicable law.
TWC explains its employment and unemployment-tax framework in Unemployment Insurance Law: Coverage Issues. A payroll-tax threshold should not be treated as a blanket exemption from wage or other employment obligations.
Choose the role-specific planning guide: nanny, housekeeper, or newborn care specialist.
2. Check Texas unemployment-tax liability
For domestic service, Texas's unemployment law uses $1,000 or more in cash wages during a calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year as the domestic-employer threshold. The rule concerns the employing unit's domestic-service cash wages, not a separate $1,000 allowance for every worker. See TWC's Tax Department Law Manual, section 3.8 and household-employer threshold explanation.
Have your payroll professional confirm when liability begins, registration, taxable wages, the assigned rate, and reporting and payment dates. Do not assume you stop being liable as soon as one later quarter falls below the threshold. Ask TWC whether any annual domestic-employer reporting election is available and appropriate; it is not an automatic filing schedule.
Assign federal payroll and year-end tasks separately using the payroll starting checklist. If a service handles filings, record what it handles and what you must review.
3. Review wages and overtime under the applicable rules
TWC's federal wage-law overview identifies a $7.25 hourly minimum wage and generally time-and-a-half after 40 hours worked in a seven-day workweek. These are legal starting points for covered work, not suggested market compensation. Coverage and exemptions need an actual assessment. See TWC's FLSA overview.
Domestic service has specific federal provisions. In particular, live-in work, casual babysitting, and companionship arrangements should not be treated as interchangeable. Do not assume that a specialist title, overnight shift, weekly salary, or flat booking fee creates an exemption. Review the federal live-in domestic worker guidance with an adviser before relying on an exception.
Keep actual daily time records and have someone review extra hours, interruptions, travel, and any proposed sleep-time exclusions. Set the workweek and discuss how changes will be approved; a planned schedule alone does not document actual work.
4. Set paydays and written terms
Under Texas Payday Law, employees exempt from the FLSA overtime provisions must be paid at least monthly; other employees must be paid at least twice monthly. Confirm the applicable category and establish clear scheduled paydays. See TWC's Frequency of Pay and Payday Law coverage.
Record gross pay, duties, regular hours, approved expenses, benefits, and how changes will be agreed. Before making a deduction, review its legal basis and any required authorization with your payroll professional. The Texas Payday Law Basics links the state's pay-agreement and deduction guidance.
The nanny job-description template can help describe a recruiting opportunity. It is not an employment agreement or an official notice.
5. Explain leave and benefits clearly
Texas does not generally require private-sector employers to provide vacation or sick leave. Specific protected conditions and applicable laws can still create obligations; a general absence of a leave mandate does not answer every case. See TWC's Vacation and Sick Leave.
If you offer paid time off, holidays, guaranteed hours, or other benefits, describe eligibility, scheduling, balances, and any end-of-employment payout terms in writing. TWC explains that promised benefits in a written policy or agreement can be wages under Payday Law in its Fringe Benefits guidance. Review the policy before making an offer and follow the agreed terms.
6. Complete new-hire reporting and secure setup
The Texas Attorney General says employers must report new hires and rehires within 20 calendar days from the date the employee starts earning wages. Use its New Hire Reporting page for the reporting process and required information. This is separate from unemployment registration.
Assign federal employment-eligibility verification where required using the Form I-9 guide. Collect identity and payroll information through an appropriate secure channel, rather than placing it in an open planning worksheet.
7. Confirm insurance and safety arrangements
Texas does not require workers' compensation coverage for most private employers, but choosing not to carry it has consequences. Do not interpret that general rule as assurance that a household is insured against employee injuries. Discuss your worker's duties, hours, driving, and work locations with a licensed insurer or broker. See the Texas Department of Insurance workers' compensation guide.
Confirm whether the policy offered covers domestic employees and what obligations apply to your arrangement. General homeowners liability, health insurance, and workers' compensation are different coverages. Record the insurer's answer and discuss safe equipment, cleaning products, lifting, transport, and emergency procedures before the first shift.
8. Review the first payday and plan the end of employment
Use the recordkeeping guide to compare actual hours, pay, deductions, and agreed benefits. Keep records securely and resolve discrepancies promptly.
For covered employment, TWC says final pay following involuntary separation is due within six calendar days; following voluntary separation, it is due on the next regularly scheduled payday. Review the circumstances and any benefit-payout terms instead of assuming all separations are handled alike. See TWC Final Pay.
Your Texas setup list
| Task | What to assign or document |
|---|---|
| Employment relationship | Actual duties, direction, work locations, agency or shared-household roles |
| Payroll | Texas liability assessment, registration and filing owner, federal setup |
| Compensation | Gross rate, overtime review, workweek, timekeeping, scheduled paydays |
| Leave and insurance | Written offered benefits and confirmed employee-injury coverage |
| Onboarding | New-hire reporting owner, eligibility verification, secure records |
| Review | First payday check and final-pay process |
Next step: Use the onboarding checklist and templates hub, or return to the Household Employment Center. If work will occur in California too, review the California guide and ask how each jurisdiction applies to those hours.
Information only: General source-checked information, not legal or tax advice, a complete compliance checklist, or a determination of employment status or exemptions. Review current federal and Texas guidance and requirements for each work location with qualified professionals. HHP participation is a public commitment, not compliance certification. Source review: October 20, 2026; no specialist sign-off.