Nannies, Au Pairs and Babysitting Co-ops in Utah Valley

Living October 20, 2026 11 min read ✓ Updated October 20, 2026

JoAnn Giordano Editor-in-Chief, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Daycare is the childcare everyone asks about first, and our childcare guide covers it: license types, ratios and how to tour. This page is the rest of the map. It covers the people who come to your home (a nanny or an au pair) and the arrangement Utah Valley does better than most places, the babysitting co-op. Each comes with a different set of rules, and the rules are where families get surprised.

The four options in one table

Arrangement	Who regulates it	What you owe	Best for
Nanny (or nanny share)	You, as an employer; the IRS for taxes	Wages, and employment taxes over the IRS thresholds	Full or part-time care at home
Au pair	U.S. State Department, through a sponsor agency	Room, board, stipend, coursework, time off	Live-in help, up to 45 hours a week
Babysitter	Mostly nobody	Hourly pay	Date nights, occasional hours
Babysitting co-op	The group's own rules	Hours traded back	Regular short breaks, little cash

Sitters, and why the state is mostly not checking on them, are covered in our babysitting guide.

Nannies: you are the employer

Is your nanny an employee?

Almost always. IRS Publication 926 says a worker is your household employee if you can control not only what work is done, but how it is done. The IRS example is a person who babysits and does light housework four days a week, follows your instructions and uses your supplies. It does not matter whether the work is full time or part time, or whether you found the person through an agency.

The tax thresholds for 2026

From IRS Publication 926 (2026):

Social Security and Medicare: apply if you pay one household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026. The rate is 6.2 percent each for employee and employer for Social Security and 1.45 percent each for Medicare.
Federal unemployment (FUTA): applies if you pay $1,000 or more in total cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026.
Income tax withholding is not required; you withhold only if the employee asks and you agree.
Wages that don't count toward the Social Security threshold include those paid to your spouse, your parent (with exceptions), and any employee under 18 at any time in the year, unless household work is that young person's principal occupation. The IRS adds that a student's household work is not considered a principal occupation.

If you owe these taxes, you give the employee a Form W-2 and file Schedule H with your federal return. The 2026 W-2 deadline is February 1, 2027.

State obligations. The IRS tells household employers to contact their state unemployment tax agency and to check whether other state employment taxes or workers' compensation apply. In Utah, that means asking the Department of Workforce Services about unemployment insurance and the State Tax Commission about withholding. We have not summarized Utah's rules here because we did not verify them from the agencies this session.

Practical points

Write it down. Hours, pay, overtime, paid holidays, sick days, what happens when your family travels, and notice to end the arrangement.
Background checks are on you. Our babysitting guide's vetting section is the checklist; it applies to nannies too.
The student calendar. A BYU or UVU student nanny may leave at semester's end, for an internship or for a mission. Ask about their next year in the first conversation.

Nanny shares

In a nanny share, two families hire one nanny to watch their children together, often alternating homes. Who is the employer for tax purposes, how wages split, and whose home and supplies are used all need to be agreed in writing. If wages from either family cross the IRS thresholds, that family has employer obligations for its share.

Au pairs: a federal exchange program in your house

An au pair is not a nanny on a visa. It is a State Department exchange program governed by 22 CFR 62.31, run through designated sponsor organizations. You work with a sponsor, not directly with the government.

Who the au pair is. Age 18 to 26, a secondary school graduate, proficient in spoken English, interviewed in English and background-checked (including references, a criminal check and a personality profile), with at least 32 hours of pre-placement training according to the State Department's program page. The regulation breaks that into at least 8 hours of child safety (4 infant-specific) and 24 hours of child development (4 for children under two).

Hours. No more than 10 hours a day and 45 hours a week. The EduCare option is capped at 30 hours a week, and the regulation bars placing an EduCare au pair with preschool-age children unless other full-time supervision is arranged.

What the host family provides, under the regulation and the State Department's program page:

a suitable private bedroom,
a weekly stipend, calculated on 45 hours a week and paid in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act as the Department of Labor applies it (EduCare is 75 percent of the standard rate); your sponsor will give you the current amount,
up to $500 toward the au pair's required six semester hours of coursework ($1,000 and 12 hours for EduCare),
one and a half days off per week plus one full weekend off each month,
two weeks of paid vacation per year,
attendance at one sponsor family day conference during the year.

Host family requirements. Host parents must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, fluent in spoken English, interviewed in person (every adult in the home), background-checked, and have adequate finances.

The newborn rules. A sponsor may not place an au pair with a family that has a child under three months unless a parent or other responsible adult is home, or with children under two unless the au pair has at least 200 hours of documented infant care experience. For a baby's first months, that makes an au pair a helper alongside a parent at home, not a replacement for one.

The coursework is local. The au pair must attend classes at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution. Utah Valley has several within a short drive; your sponsor will confirm which courses qualify.

The ward babysitting co-op

A babysitting co-op is a group of families who trade childcare hours instead of paying cash, usually keeping track with points or tokens. In Utah Valley, the natural boundary for one is often a ward or a neighborhood, because the families already know each other and live a few minutes apart. Our explainer on how LDS wards work covers that structure for newcomers.

Co-ops are informal. There is no license, no state standard and no authority to complain to, so the group's written rules are the whole system. If you are starting or joining one, these are the decisions that keep it working:

The unit. One point per child per hour? Extra for evenings or for a second child? Decide before the first sit.
Starting balance. New families need a few points to begin, or nobody can be the first to go out.
Who keeps the ledger. A shared spreadsheet or app, and one person who resolves disputes.
Sick-child rule. Who stays home, and how late you can cancel.
Safety basics. Car seats if sitters drive (Utah law applies to whoever drives; see our car-seat guide), allergies, screen rules, and an emergency contact sheet in every house.
Size. Enough families that someone is free on a Friday, few enough that everyone knows everyone.
Leaving. What happens to a family's balance when they move, which in a student-heavy valley happens every spring.

The cost of a co-op is not money. It is that you owe hours back, at times your own week is full. For new parents, the trade often works best as a future investment: bank goodwill now, spend it when the baby is old enough to leave for an evening.

If you need help with the cost

For daycare subsidies and the state's child care assistance program, see our childcare guide. Student families should read our student parents guide, which covers UVU's campus center and hourly care. For a short break in a hard week, Family Haven in Orem runs a free respite nursery for children through age 11 (801-229-1181).

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay taxes for a nanny in Utah?

If the nanny is your household employee and you pay cash wages of $3,000 or more in 2026, IRS Publication 926 says Social Security and Medicare taxes apply. If you pay $1,000 or more in total cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter, federal unemployment (FUTA) tax applies. The IRS also tells household employers to contact their state unemployment tax agency about state obligations.

Does a teenage babysitter count as a household employee for taxes?

For Social Security and Medicare, IRS Publication 926 says you do not count wages paid to an employee who was under 18 at any time during the year unless household work is their principal occupation, and that a student's household work is not considered their principal occupation.

Is a nanny an employee or a contractor?

The IRS says a worker is your household employee if you can control not only what work is done but how it is done. Its own example is a babysitter who follows your instructions in your home with your supplies four days a week. It does not matter whether the work is full or part time or whether you found the worker through an agency.

How many hours can an au pair work?

Under State Department regulations (22 CFR 62.31), a standard au pair may provide no more than 10 hours of childcare a day and no more than 45 hours a week. EduCare au pairs are limited to 10 hours a day and 30 hours a week.

Can an au pair care for a newborn?

With limits. The regulations bar placing an au pair with a family that has a child under three months old unless a parent or other responsible adult is present in the home, and bar placement with children under two unless the au pair has at least 200 hours of documented infant childcare experience.

What do host families have to provide an au pair?

Under 22 CFR 62.31 the host family provides a suitable private bedroom, a weekly stipend tied to federal minimum wage rules, up to $500 toward required coursework ($1,000 for EduCare), one and a half days off each week plus one full weekend off each month, and two weeks of paid vacation. Host parents must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and fluent in spoken English.

What is a babysitting co-op?

A babysitting co-op is a group of families who trade childcare hours instead of paying cash, usually tracking hours with points or tokens. In Utah Valley they often form within a ward or neighborhood. They are informal arrangements; the rules are whatever the group agrees on.

Does a nanny need a childcare license in Utah?

Utah's child care licensing categories are built around care in a provider's home or in a center, and Utah Administrative Code R430-8 sets out exemptions. We did not find a Utah license category for a nanny working in the family's own home, but we did not confirm that with the state this session. Our babysitting guide walks through the exemptions and what exempt does and does not mean; ask the Utah DHHS Office of Licensing if you are unsure.

Sources

The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.

Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax Guide, Internal Revenue Service. Checked October 20, 2026.
Au Pair Program, U.S. Department of State, J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program. Checked October 20, 2026.
22 CFR 62.31 Au pairs, eCFR. Checked October 20, 2026.
Family Haven: Nursery, Family Haven. Checked October 20, 2026.

JoAnn Giordano

Editor-in-Chief

JoAnn Giordano is the editor-in-chief of Provo.com. Having lived in and around Utah Valley for years, she leads the site's editorial direction with a focus on the comprehensive, honest local coverage that helps residents, students, and newcomers feel at home. When she's not shaping Provo.com's restaurant and neighborhood coverage, she's exploring the valley's trails and tracking down the best new spots on Center Street.

Nannies, Au Pairs and the Ward Babysitting Co-op: The Childcare That Isn't Daycare, and the Rules That Come With Each