Guides
On hiring and employing a private chef, for households and the advisers who look after them.
Employing a chef
Pay, hours and the duties of a household employer.
- California household chefs: what changes on 1 January 2027From 1 January 2027 California's minimum wage is $17.40 an hour and the exempt salary $72,384 a year. What it means for a household chef.
- Colorado household chefs: what a household owes in 2027Colorado gives a private chef no live-in exemption. The 2027 minimum wage is $15.71 an hour and the proposed exempt salary $59,864 a year.
- Live-in private chef hours in CaliforniaHow a live-in private chef's hours work under California Wage Order 15: twelve hours off, a nine-hour day, a five-day week, and what is paid on top.
- New Jersey live-in chefs: overtime, the contract and noticeNew Jersey gives a live-in private chef overtime after forty hours a week, a written contract and four weeks' notice. What a household owes.
- Washington live-in chefs and overtime from 1 July 2027From 1 July 2027 Washington gives live-in household chefs overtime after 40 hours a week, a written agreement and four weeks' notice.
- Workplace safety and the household chef in CaliforniaSince 1 July 2025 California workplace-safety rules reach household staff employed by a business. What that means for a private chef.
Briefings
Changes in law and the market, and what a household does about each.
- California household chefs: what changes on 1 January 2027From 1 January 2027 California's minimum wage is $17.40 an hour and the exempt salary $72,384 a year. What it means for a household chef.
- Colorado household chefs: what a household owes in 2027Colorado gives a private chef no live-in exemption. The 2027 minimum wage is $15.71 an hour and the proposed exempt salary $59,864 a year.
- New Jersey live-in chefs: overtime, the contract and noticeNew Jersey gives a live-in private chef overtime after forty hours a week, a written contract and four weeks' notice. What a household owes.
- Washington live-in chefs and overtime from 1 July 2027From 1 July 2027 Washington gives live-in household chefs overtime after 40 hours a week, a written agreement and four weeks' notice.
- Workplace safety and the household chef in CaliforniaSince 1 July 2025 California workplace-safety rules reach household staff employed by a business. What that means for a private chef.