We want to find an independent caregiver for 80 year old mother with dementia. Anyone know of a service that handles the payroll?

A payroll service can help you work out if you are the employer of a casual employee paid wages, or if the worker is running a business service for which you pay on invoice. Genuine knowledge is part of what you pay them for!

Double check whether business license, insurance and bond really are a requirement in your state. They aren’t a requirement for contractors here, and it does surprise me a little. If you find the payroll service, they will know the rules.

Look into payroll services, labor leasing businesses.

They handle all of the paperwork and insurance, you will be charged a percentage of the payroll for their services and to cover all the coverage for your employee.

The only time a person is considered a self employed business is when they are properly licensed, bonded and insured. Someone claiming to be self employed should be able to provide you with a copy of their business license, insurance certificate and a copy of their bond. If they don't have that, they can not just be paid, you want to protect everyone involved. Because it's always all good and okay until it's not, at that point you are in trouble.

Thank you for doing it correctly and protecting everyone.

Most places have small private book-keeping services that do the monthly accounts (not always the annual returns) and also do payroll. Look up book-keeping, accounting and payroll with your area name on the search too. I’d be surprised if you don’t find several.