If you've decided spending more time on family, career, education or other interests in or out of the home is more important than doing chores, hire a housekeeper.

Earlier this week you learned here what to consider about housecleaning companies when you are "Hiring Housecleaners Who Really Clean House".

But what if you'd prefer a closer relationship with someone who is going to clean your things?

Don't fool around with the help.

That may not mean what you think.

While salacious activities with those who clean your home can be the stuff of national scandal -- ill conceived and waiting to come back to haunt you -- special legal requirements may be your primary initial concern.

"Need A Neater Nest? Housecleaning Help" from Consumers' Checkbook, a Washington, D.C.-based consumer services rating service (magazine and online) of the Center for the Study of Services queried 320 subscribers who employ housecleaners in seven metropolitan areas around the nation and came up with some troubling finds.

Among the subscribers, only 15 percent of those in households who hired independent housekeepers, paid the employer's share of Social Security, 8 percent paid the employee's share of Social Security, 9 percent paid unemployment tax, 3 percent withheld income tax, and 1 percent paid health insurance.

The numbers indicate many are unaware of or ignore legal obligations when hiring household workers.

First you must check the employee's identification or other documents that prove citizenship or that the employee has the right to work in the U.S.

To do so you must complete with the employee the "Employment Eligibility Verification" (Form I-9) for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and keep the completed form on file in your home, not with the USCIS. You must keep the completed form for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment ends, whichever is later.

While you are not required to withhold federal income tax, federal law requires that Social Security and Medicare taxes be paid for all adults (over 18 years of age) who you pay more than $1,400 per year to work in your home.

That's an amount easily surpassed (based only on a 26-week work year) at the average rate of $85.50 a visit surveyed employer's said they pay household workers.

State requirements vary, but check your state for requirements on withholding income taxes, workers compensation, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance.

Those surveyed who aren't paying their due in taxes and other fees may be taking a chance on not being caught because of the value they say they get from individual housecleaners over housecleaning firms.

Fifty-eight percent rated individual housecleaners superior to the housecleaning firms which garnered only 38 percent of the vote. For neatness, 62 percent said individuals were superior, 43 percent said firms. Overall, the individuals were rated superior by 62 percent, while only 43 percent give the superior rating to firms, according to Checkbook.

Firms did better in only one category, but not by much. Among those surveyed, 53 percent said individuals were superior at promptness, 55 percent gave the nod to housecleaning firms.

Perhaps housecleaning employers believe, for the value of not paying all those legally required taxes, a little tardiness is a cost they can handle.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Checkbook warns, fooling around with federal and state laws can trigger audits, civil and criminal legal action, punitive cash penalties, fines and jail.

Employers can find legal value by using their smarts when they select independent housecleaners. That's a strategy based not on some perceived reduced cost, but on a host of other factors.

Hiring an individual to clean

Checkbook's survey of its subscribers turned up some significant dos and don'ts to consider when hiring a self-employed housecleaner.

• Keep in mind, in many cases, unlike licensed contractors and other workers who come to your home, independent workers are considered your employees and will likely be unregulated and without liability insurance or other financial coverage to protect you from any negligence.

• Confer with your insurer to determine if a housecleaner is considered a "casual worker" who may be protected by your existing policy or, if not, if you need additional coverage.

• Checkbook also says to be aware of the more personal relationship you'll likely have with someone you hire to be in your home two to four times a month all year and how that could influence how you supervise the worker, for better or for worse.

• Seventy-seven percent of the household employers said they were steered to housecleaners by friends, relatives, neighbors, or coworkers. People you trust, who've recently had or are currently having a positive experience, are good references.

• The next most frequent source was from advertisements, probably not a wise choice unless you thoroughly check out the housecleaner's background.

  Most don't. Of those who found their housecleaner through other resources than trusted referrals, only 30 percent checked the housecleaner references. If you don't check references you have set yourself up for a long-term trial and error interview.

• Watch for breakage. Sixty-two percent of Checkbook's subscribers mentioned problems, primarily broken household items. Homeowners also said language barriers, declining quality of work over time and tardiness were less of a problem. Theft, not showing up, and not being thorough were also mentioned.

• Get it in writing. A contract may be your only legal recourse should something go wrong. Work you want completed, items and areas you want cleaned, pay (including sick leave, paid vacations and holidays, if any), hours, rules regarding breaks should all be discussed and detailed.

Checkbook suggests a probationary period to give you and the housecleaner the opportunity to reconsider gracefully if problems arise.

The period can be used to discuss the work being done, to explain specifics about your home, areas of dissatisfaction and it can be time used to get acquainted.

Checkbook's full report on housecleaners offers greater detail on all facets of self-employed housecleaners and housecleaning companies.

Checkbook specifically reports from Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN-WI region; Philadelphia, PA; the Puget Sound area in Washington state; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; and Washington, D.C. but the information is useful for hiring housecleaners anywhere.

Published: August 3, 2007

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.