Howmuch do you pay for your helper?

[Cocoon]

Inspired, thank you for your posts. You gave me a lot to think about and consider. I was thinking of drawing a simple contract stating that they are responsible for paying their own taxes etc.

The helper would only be coming once a day for 3 hours a week for a start. And if everything goes well I will need her for 3 days a week again 3 hours each day. Now, to my understanding she is no more then a regular babysitter who comes to a family whenever her services is required.

When i was babysitting for a babysitting comany in the past i was responsible for my own taxes and it was writing in my contract too. I was also babysitting privately and those families were regular. But law did not make them my employers.

I understand where you coming from but in my case as a small business, I don't think I need to follow the employment law. Thanks again for the links. I will have a look at them to see what they say about this.

Cocoon

[Cocoon]

Just read one of your link "Am I old enough to work" well in my case they are. They are both 16 years of age therefore, they don't require permission from their parents' to work. Although, I couldn't find whether I should be paying the minimum wage.

I will be paying $400 a month which makes $11 for an hour which is a very good hourly rate for a teenager but I like to keep them happy

[Inspired by Reggio]

My advice for how much to 'pay' a worker is to ensure you follow the laws for your province ~ unfortunately ignorance of the law is not an excuse if you find yourself in a legal issue with a youth's parent if you hirer a teen under age 18 or with the adult if you hirer someone over 18 who did not know their rights at the beginning and figured them out later into the relationship ... personally I would not rely on my advice or the advice of others who 'did such and such' because they might have 'gotta lucky' with getting away with something technically illegal but you might not be so lucky

My advice is to make sure who ever you chose to hire is old enough to 'work' you are following the Employment Standards Act for your province.... why parents might get away with hiring under age employees because they are not legally a 'business' the standards that WE are held to might be different depending on the province you live in?

Here is a link for determining how old you have to be to 'legally work' in each Province ...
http://www.youth.gc.ca/eng/topics/jobs/age.shtml . Hiring a 'helper' who is under the legal age of work you can likely get away without paying them the 'student minimum wage' in your province because they are not protected by it ~ but if they are over that age ~ so for example 14 in Ontario for 'most' industries although some you have to be 16,17 and 18 to work in.

You might always want to check with your insurance company to see if 'employees' are covered under your home business ryder ~ if you are paying someone to work for you and they are injured in your home you want to make sure that you have coverage if they or their parent depending on their age SUES YOU for having an unsafe workplace ... and that includes making sure you are covered while the employee is both on or off your property if you take field trips with the kids!

Determine if you are an employer or if you are contracting the service of a 'self employed person' buy reading through the government of Canada's literature on this because these rules are the same across Canada verses per Province ... because based on what I have read on the difference between the two ... while hiring a contractor to come into your home and perform a service in your kitchen is one thing cause they have all the control over THEIR business and they are providing a 'service' to you there is a BIG difference when you move into hiring someone to come into YOUR home and YOUR business and perform WORK that you control and so forth you are indeed hiring an employee .... because they have no control/autonomy in your home as you make all the choices for your business, they are not providing any of the tools or equipment for the job you do, they cannot hire any assistants to help them or subcontract the work to yet another person, aside from getting 'fired' if they do not perform their work to your satisfaction or if you decide you no longer need them they are taking no financial risk in your business, there is no degree of management or investment held by them in your business, aside from the wage you pay there is no degree of profit for them in your business, and they are not the ones writing the contracts with your clients or with themselves YOU ARE .... therefore by the definitions of the CRA IMO and my guess if you come before the tribunal if someone were to report you ~ you are CLEARLY an EMPLOYER in this situation ....

Here is the criteria for determining employer or hiring a self employed person to read for yourselves ....

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/rc4110-e.html

So my understanding is that based on that if you are hiring someone 'old enough to work' in your province who is therefore protected by the Employment Standards Act and you are under the CRA requirements of employers you would be responsible to pay that persons EI, CPP, % of vacation pay according to your province and submit their income tax based on their tax bracket and so forth.

I have a degree in Human Resource Management and worked in the field drawing up employee contracts ~ legally employees cannot be forced to 'opt out' of their rights under the ESA or the CRA requirements ~ so even if they sign a contract that DOES it MAY not stand up later depending on certain criteria. So if your contract states they are 'responsible' to pay their own of these you better make sure it is WORDED in a way to be CLEAR TO ALL PARTIES and LEGALLY BINDING otherwise you could still find yourself later having them file a complaint against you with the Labor Board in your Province and having to 'back pay' them EI, CPP, vacation and so forth!

Now from what my peers who've gone this route themselves have shared is they have had a lawyer help them draw up an employment contract that clearly shows that the 'hour wage' they were paid INCLUDED EXTRA PAYMENT of these things .... so it indicated what their base was X per hour which met minimum wage requirements plus an additional A. amount per hour for EI portion, B. amount per hour for CPP and C. amount per hour for 4% vacation pay and D. it stated finally that because the business as a small 'home childcare' business and therefore not required by the government to have a 'GST and other tax submission' account that the employer was not deducting any 'income tax' on their behalf and therefore 'incomes taxes' were not being deducted from the weekly pay cheque on their behalf and therefore they were responsible for submitting their own income tax at the end of the year. My understanding that this is a way to 'clearly' show that while YES you are an employer under the definition of the CRA you've drawn up a contract in such a way to 'meet' those requirements while having the employee submit their own remittances because it is 'easier' due to the nature of your business and employees usually only be 'temporary' in nature and so forth.

Hope that helps ~ and again this is just 'my understanding' from what I have read on government websites and what I learned in school when I took my Human Resource Management courses on Labor Relations and Employment Standards in Ontario ... important to do your own research and come to your own conclusion cause if push comes to shove it is YOU who has to live with an audit or Labor Relations complaint and any consequences of your business choices!