Your Responsibilities as an Employer

Labour Standards
Foreign Caregivers are protected by provincial labour standards governing such things as wages, hours, days off, overtime, and working conditions. You must ensure your Caregiver has safe working conditions, a key to your home and a private space of their own.

Click here for updated Ontario employment standards regarding domestic workers.

Work Safety
In some provinces, employers who hire live-in caregivers MUST register with the province's work safety regulation body. Click on the link below to view the requirements for your province:

Making Deductions From Your Caregiver's Salary
Deductions you are required to make from your Caregiver's pay include income tax, employment insurance, and Canada Pension Plan. These deductions must be forwarded to the government at regular intervals. Rosenblatt Associates can provide you with more detailed information about making and remitting deductions. You are required to provide your Caregiver with pay statements that explain the deductions you make and the exact amount of each deduction.

Deductions for Room and Board
You may also make deductions to cover costs of meals and accommodation. These deductions should also be shown on the pay statements you give your Caregiver. Your contract should also detail these deductions. It is easiest to break meal charges down into individual meals. This is because you are not allowed to charge your Caregiver for meals you don't provide. It's perhaps easiest to charge your Caregiver weekly or monthly for accommodation.

Providing Health Care Coverage
Foreign Caregivers are required to have coverage under Canada's health system. Depending on which province you live in, you provincial legislation may be required to make payments for this coverage. This payment is non-negotiable and must be paid by either you or your Caregiver - some provinces stipulate who is to pay, whereas other provinces make it optional who pays. If it is optional who pays, you and your Caregiver must decide together who will make this payment, and this decision should be included in the contract. If your province requires you to make this payment, you are not allowed to deduct the payment from your Caregiver's salary.

Worker's Compensation
Most provinces require that foreign Caregivers must also be covered by worker's compensation. Depending on which province you live in, you may be required to make contributions for worker's compensation. Worker's compensation is an insurance plan for employers, so it provides you with protection as well if your Caregiver gets hurt on the job.