AFH payroll after Bolina
Take your caregiver's daily rate. Divide it by the hours in their day.
That one number is what the Bolina decision is about. Since July 9, 2026, live-in caregivers in Washington adult family homes must earn at least minimum wage for every hour worked, and overtime after 40 hours in a week.
Your numbers
The starting numbers are from the Bolina court record: $145 a day, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Change them to yours.
$145 ÷ 16 hours =
$9.06
an hour, before any night wake-ups
The minimum for this home is $17.13 an hour. This daily rate is $8.07 an hour under it, before any overtime.
This is arithmetic, not a legal finding. Which hours count as worked in your home is something we go through with you.
In plain words
The Bolina ruling for adult family homes
Washington's minimum wage law did not cover workers who live where they work. A home could pay a live-in caregiver one flat amount per day, whatever the hours.
In Bolina v. AssureCare Adult Home, the Washington Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 that this exception is unconstitutional for live-in caregivers in adult family homes.
Every hour worked must be paid at minimum wage or more. Hours past 40 in a week are paid at one and a half times. Paid sick leave and records of hours apply too.
Source: Washington Supreme Court, Bolina v. AssureCare Adult Home LLC, No. 103519-5, decided July 9, 2026.
Your situation
Which one sounds like your home?
"My caregivers are already on payroll."
For you this is a check: hours recorded against hours worked, overtime, and the right rate for your city.
Usually a short fix, not a rebuild.
"I pay a daily rate, or cash."
We rebuild a real week first. Then we show what hourly payroll would cost, and the ways to make it work.
The most common call we get.
"A bit of both. I'm not sure."
Some on payroll, some not, a caregiver on a 1099. We sort out who is what before any numbers.
One conversation usually clears it up.
"I live in the home and do the care myself."
The ruling is about caregivers you employ. Whether a relative who works in the home is one depends on how the home is set up.
Bring that question to the call.
The complimentary consultation
What happens on the call
One video or phone call, with your numbers on a shared screen. No documents needed.
Your week as it really runs
Who is in the home, which hours, what you pay them, how many residents and at what rates.
One number at a time
The hourly figure, then overtime, then what a caregiver truly costs with L&I, Paid Leave, WA Cares and unemployment added.
Your options, side by side
A different schedule, a second caregiver, a change in resident rates, and what each does to cash.
What to do first
You leave knowing your numbers and your first steps.
Payroll
Payroll for Washington adult family homes
Hourly payroll, overtime done right
The correct rate for your city, with overtime after 40 hours. Paystubs your caregivers can read.
Every deposit and filing
IRS deposits and Forms 941 and 940, Employment Security, L&I, Paid Leave, WA Cares and W-2s.
Moving you from daily rates
We register the accounts, enroll caregivers, and run the first payrolls with you.
A monthly report in AFH terms
Caregiver cost per resident, and an early note when weekly hours start to climb.
A flat $100 a month per home. No charge per employee.
Questions
Questions owners ask us first
CarebearBooks provides accounting, payroll and financial decision support. We are not a law firm and nothing here is legal advice.
Nothing on paper. If you know who works which days, roughly what hours, what you pay them and what your residents pay, that is enough to start.
That is what the first call is for. We look at how your home runs today, what hourly payroll would cost, and which schedule the home can carry.
Usually not. Call us, and if your situation needs a lawyer we will tell you on the call.
The consultation is complimentary. Payroll is a flat $100 a month per home, with no charge per employee.
Complimentary consultation
Book your complimentary consultation
Leave your name and number and we will call you to set a time.
See open times and pick the one that suits you. It takes about a minute.
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We call you back the same working day. No documents needed. Your numbers, not a sales pitch.