Home Care Payroll: How to Run It Accurately Every Week
Run home care payroll from verified hours: add travel, apply differentials, calculate overtime across clients, approve, export. The errors, taxes and records that matter.
By Caregiver Scheduling Team ·
Accurate home care payroll comes from accurate hours. Start with verified check-in and check-out times, add paid travel between clients, apply rates and differentials, calculate weekly overtime across all of a caregiver’s clients, approve, then export to payroll. Each workweek stands alone under the FLSA (29 CFR 778.104), so fix problems before the pay date, not after.
What does a weekly payroll cycle look like?
Run the same five steps every week, on the same days, so errors surface while caregivers still remember the visit.
| Day | Task |
|---|---|
| Daily | Fix missing punches and GPS exceptions while the visit is fresh |
| End of workweek | Close the pay period; late visits move to the next one |
| Day 1 after | Review hours, travel, differentials and overtime per caregiver |
| Day 2 after | Approve and export to payroll. See QuickBooks payroll for home care |
| Pay date | Caregivers paid; mileage reimbursed on the same check |
Overtime is due on the regular payday for the week it was earned. If you can’t finish the calculation in time, pay it no later than the next payday (29 CFR 778.106).
Which payroll mistakes cost agencies the most?
Most wage claims come down to hours that were worked but never reached payroll. Check these six every week.
- Overtime per client instead of per caregiver. A caregiver with 30 hours at one client and 15 at another worked 45. See overtime with multiple clients.
- Travel time left out. Drive time between clients is hours worked and goes into the overtime regular rate. See travel time pay.
- Unpaid training and meetings. Training is unpaid only if it is voluntary, outside working hours, not job-related and no work is done (29 CFR 785.27). Agency orientation fails that test.
- Overnight shifts in the wrong week. A Saturday 8 p.m. to Sunday 8 a.m. shift splits at the workweek boundary. Put the hours where they fall.
- Sleep time excluded without an agreement. You need an express agreement and a real chance to sleep. See live-in caregiver pay.
- State rules missed. Daily overtime, meal premiums and paid sick leave vary by state. See home care overtime rules.
How much do payroll taxes add to a caregiver’s wage?
Plan on federal employer taxes adding about 8% before state unemployment and workers’ comp. The BLS median wage for home health and personal care aides was $17.21 an hour in May 2025.
| Employer tax (2026) | Rate | Applies to | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% | Wages up to $184,500 | IRS Topic 751 |
| Medicare | 1.45% | All wages | IRS Topic 751 |
| FUTA | 6.0%, usually 0.6% after the state credit | First $7,000 per employee | IRS Topic 759 |
| State unemployment | Varies by state and claims history | State wage base | Your state agency |
| Workers’ comp | Varies by state and class code | All wages | Your carrier |
On a $17.21 wage, Social Security and Medicare add $1.32 an hour. FUTA adds $42 a year per caregiver at the 0.6% rate. For the full picture, including workers’ comp, see what each caregiver hour really costs.
What payroll records do you have to keep, and for how long?
Keep payroll records for three years and the time records behind them for two. The FLSA requires hours worked each day and week, the pay rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, deductions and the pay date for every non-exempt caregiver (DOL Fact Sheet 21).
- Three years: payroll registers and written agreements, including sleep-time and travel-rate agreements (29 CFR 516.5).
- Two years: time cards, schedules, wage rate tables and records of additions to or deductions from wages (29 CFR 516.6).
Keep the original punch and the correction, with who changed it and why. In a wage claim, an edited timesheet with no trail counts against you. Many states and Medicaid programs require longer retention; see home care record retention.
Did the 2025 federal enforcement change affect agency payroll?
Not in a way you should bank on. In July 2025 the Department of Labor proposed rescinding the 2013 Home Care Rule, which bars agencies from the companionship and live-in exemptions. The same month, Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-4 told investigators to stop enforcing the 2013 rule while the proposal is pending. As of November 2026 no final rule has been published. The regulation at 29 CFR 552.109 is still on the books, and caregivers can still sue privately. Many states have their own overtime laws for home care workers that don’t depend on federal exemptions. Keep paying overtime after 40 hours unless an employment attorney tells you otherwise.
How Caregiver Scheduling handles this
Every visit has a verified check-in and check-out with GPS location, and when the office corrects a time, the original record and the reason are both kept in the audit log. Timesheets built from those check-ins, with travel between visits, overtime across clients and QuickBooks export for payroll, are coming soon. $199/month for up to 10 caregivers or $299/month for up to 50, free for 30 days.
FAQ
Should caregivers be paid weekly? Many agencies pay weekly because it helps recruiting and retention. Some states set a minimum pay frequency; the DOL keeps a state payday table.
How do I fix a payroll mistake? Pay the shortfall on the next check, document what happened, and keep the corrected record. Underpaid overtime is due no later than the next payday after you can calculate it.
Do I pay for orientation and in-service training? Yes. Required training is hours worked and counts toward the 40-hour threshold.
Can I average two weeks to avoid overtime? No. Each workweek stands alone, even on a biweekly pay schedule.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your state’s wage, pay-frequency and recordkeeping rules.