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Rosenthal Community Care Services • 2026 California Planning Tool

Monthly Payroll Expense Calculator

Explore the full cost of care-home staffing: hourly schedules, live-in daily rates, overtime, payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, optional benefits, and employer-provided meals or lodging.

For California RCFE / ARF planning • All inputs editable • Not a substitute for a compliant staffing plan or payroll calculation

Hourly staffing assumptions

Start with the 2026 California state minimum. Edit it for applicable local or covered-industry rates. The caregiver wage is the minimum plus a configurable wage premium.

2026 California statewide starting point; higher rates may apply.
Caregiver rate: $16.90/hour
Proposed schedule: 7:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. and 3:00–11:30 p.m., each with two people on duty. The half-hour overlap is not a substitute for legally compliant meal and rest breaks.

Live-in house manager / administrator

Planning floor at 2× entered wage: $70,304/year. California statutory threshold typically uses statewide minimum wage.
$70,304
Default: do not assume overtime exemption. The model treats manager overnight hours as additional overtime paid at an editable overtime multiplier (default 2.0× for conservative budgeting) unless the exemption is affirmatively verified. A manager who routinely provides hands-on overnight resident care may fail the duties test.
Third-shift night coverage (11:30 p.m.–7:00 a.m.)
Conservative default: full 7.5 hours. A lower number requires a defensible legal basis and accurate records.
House manager may summon paid backup immediately, without owner approval.
Actual pay depends on daily and weekly overtime, including double time.
The manager retains authority to call additional paid caregivers based on resident safety and care needs. This budget assumes caregiver backup is paid; it does not cap emergency coverage.

Overnight and overtime planning

When a manager is not covering a night, the model budgets one paid overnight caregiver. Actual resident needs may require more.

7.5 hours matches 11:30 p.m.–7:00 a.m.
Adds an extra 0.5 × premium to hours already paid at base rate (1.5× total).
For annualized unemployment wage-base estimates.
Reducing paid on-call hours does not establish that the remaining time is legally unpaid. Review live-in/sleep-time and on-call restrictions before using this as an operating budget.

Employer payroll costs

Shared assumptions across both tabs. UI, ETT, and FUTA are annualized using the $7,000 annual wage base per employee. They are not estimates of one exact payroll month's tax deposits.

Projected CA 2026 effective rate; check final credit reduction.
Use your actual insurer/classification rate.
Budget reserve only; not a substitute for paid sick leave compliance.
Employer FICA is modeled at 6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare. State SDI (2026: 1.3%) is ordinarily employee-withheld, not an additional employer expense. Individual high-earner Social Security caps are not modeled. UI and ETT rates may differ for an established employer.

Optional employee benefits and meals

Activate a benefit to include its expense. The amount fields are disabled when the benefit is switched off.

Actual incremental housing cost; avoid counting rent/mortgage already elsewhere in facility expenses.
Optional income tax deduction illustration (not cash payroll savings)
Zero by default; consult your CPA for deductibility and actual marginal/effective rate.
Meals and lodging generally increase operating cost. Potential deductibility is a separate income-tax question. IRS §119 may exclude qualifying on-premises benefits from employee taxable pay; California wage credits have different limits and require a voluntary written agreement.

Weekly sample staffing coverage

The table below follows the selected staffing model.

Days Time Shift / coverage People & payroll treatment
Weekly scheduled care hours: —Average weeks / month: 4.333

This is a staffing-cost template, not a finished employee-by-employee roster. Verify that each shift meets the facility's resident assessment, licensing obligations, meal/rest coverage, personnel qualifications, and applicable overtime rules.

Read before using these numbers

Manager exemption: Salary at twice the statewide minimum does not alone exempt a manager from overtime. California's executive test ordinarily requires directing two or more employees, actual personnel authority, management discretion, and primarily managerial work. Wage Order 5 contains additional special provisions for resident managers of smaller homes for the aged. Have counsel review the specific structure.
Daily and overnight: Day rates do not waive overtime. Overnight standby, working time, sleep-time exclusions, and on-duty meals require fact-specific analysis. The model charges for all estimated working hours and flags assumptions that need review. An employee cannot be denied required rest or relief merely because the employee lives at the facility.
Employer benefits: Generally, actual ordinary and necessary business costs of providing employee meals or lodging may be deductible. Tax-free treatment of the benefit to staff is narrower and depends on IRS §119 (including on-premises, employer convenience, and for lodging a condition of employment). A wage credit in California is different and requires a written agreement and statutory value limits.
Government references
California DLSE — 2026 minimum wage and exemption FAQs
California Wage Order 5 — public housekeeping / residential care provisions
Covered healthcare-facility minimum wage applicability
California EDD — employer UI, ETT and SDI
California EDD — 2026 federal/state payroll taxes; projected FUTA
IRS Publication 15-B — employer meals/lodging
Educational financial planning tool, not legal, tax, licensing, or employment advice. Values are estimates, not a payroll calculation, and must be checked against actual wages, employee-specific workweeks, employee classification, payroll records, and insurer quotes. Rules can change. Consult California employment counsel, a payroll professional, and your CPA before implementing arrangements based on these scenarios.