Is my parent's caregiver a household employee?
Short answer
Often, yes, when your parent is the one who hires and directs them. The IRS lists caretakers, health aides and private nurses as household workers, and a caregiver your parent controls in their own home is your parent's household employee. If an agency sends the caregiver and controls the work, the caregiver isn't your family's employee. If you, not your parent, control the work, the IRS household rules don't settle it, so ask a tax professional before you set up payroll.
Answered by the NannyKeeper team
The numbers
“If an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how it is done, the worker isn't your employee.”
- Household work includes
- Caretakers, health aides, private nurses
- Your parent's employee when
- Your parent controls what they do and how
- Your parent owes Social Security and Medicare at
- $3,000 to one worker in 2026
Sources
- IRS Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax Guide · Read October 25, 2026
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 3121 · Read October 25, 2026
What this means for you
- If your parent hires and directs the caregiver, your parent is the employer.
- The IRS household employer rules are written for work in the employer's own home. When you direct a caregiver in your parent's home, those rules don't clearly apply, so get advice before you pay.
- A caregiver sent by a home care agency that controls the schedule and the duties isn't your family's employee. Ask the agency how it pays them before you assume either way.
Read the full guide: Senior caregiver payroll