HIRING A CAREGIVERHiring a Caregiver can be very challenging, it is not a simple process of just finding someone to look after your loved ones. The best situation, in my opinion, is to hirer assistance directly, not using a "Nursing Service" to provide the caregivers. That being said the person receiving the care is the employer not another family member. When a guardian does the actually hiring it is still legally the ward who is the employer. The employer must meet both Federal and State requirements of employers. I can not tell you how many times I have heard "We pay cash to caregiver" or "We just write a personal check it isn't our problem to figure out social security and taxes". This is not the way you should be hiring a caregiver, by doing this you have made the caregiver a contract worker. What is wrong with that, you ask? A contract worker, just like a building contractor, does the job and is not directed in how it is done. In other words if there are things your loved one wants done a certain way they really can't tell the contract caregiver how to do the job. Nor fire them for not doing it as they wished. This generally occurs due to not understanding the employers required employee deductions and taxes. Or the family just thinking it is easier this way. It is a mistake to do this there are severe consequence for doing so. If the relationship with the are giver does not work and she/he is let go, they can file for unemployment and when no payments have been made the state will get very interested in what you are doing. The IRS is then in turn notified. Or the caregiver could get injured and need medical bills paid or workmens compensation and you are liable. So stay within the law when ever you hirer someone and pay them more than $600.00 in a year. Where do you look when Hiring a Caregiver? My suggestion is to ask family and friends if they know of anyone who does this type of work. Or someone who might be interested in being a caregiver. Check with older friends of your parents also, they might know of someone who took care of another friend. Ask around for recommendations. Check with any nurses you might know. The nurses in your parents Doctors office might be able to recommend someone. Be sure you check with all family members also someone might be in need of work and this would work out well. A friends great granddaughters (3) took on the care and divided it up to meet every ones schedule. It worked out very well for all involved. You can also hirer a caregiver by recruiting directly using either newspaper ads or a specialized service agency.The agency will generally do aback ground check for you on the applicants,some also have a book keeping service or payroll service you can use. By Hiring a Caregiver directly using a service tends to get you better qualified applicants. Usually when hired through an agency you will have a caregiver who will stay much longer than someone out of the paper. I strongly suggest that you also line up 2 or 3 family members or friends who can stand in if caregiver is sick or needs a day off for what ever reason. When hiring a caregiver directly it is extremely important that you have a Written agreement which covers all required work expected of them. They need to be aware of the fact that the loved one is their employer and that you are supervising the care. The relationships between all involved need to be spelled out, they are not always obvious. Be sure you keep the original and caregiver has a copy.
No matter who you hirer keep a watchful eye on the situation. If you are to far away have a trusted friend do this for you.In this case you need to call and talk with caregiver when she/he is working and also try to arrange to speak with them when the conversation can be private. Do the same with your loved one also.
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