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I have a client who wants to hire a live-in caregiver through private pay. She has asked me to assist her with the entire process. Overall, I have found some good resources, etc. to get me started but has anyone already gone through this process who may provide some guidance one-on-one with me? I thought I would start with a checklist of what needs to be addressed and developed would be a good start and then move through each item. Overall areas to address would include: description of services needed, interviewing, hiring, benefits, wage, insurances, etc.
I appreciate any help. I have no doubt I can handle this; just the first time doing it.Here’s a few ideas, Julianne: As employment law is at least partially state-specific, be sure the advice you get pertains to your state. You also need to get this right as there are stiff penalties in some aspects of employment/payroll for missteps.
I have found Care.com HomePay 877-367-1978 to be very helpful. In NY, AADMM member Evan Gilder of Redlig Financial Services Inc. is our local expert on home payroll. 646-827-3600.I echo Karen’s advice to use a payroll service like Home Pay for this employee. While your client may want to do “private pay” it can get complicated when the employee asks for vacation time, compensatory time or overtime for holidays, etc. Of course, it is also good practice to follow the law and pay state and federal taxes for the employee and Home Pay can take care of these details for you. And I have found the service reps at Home Pay to be extremely helpful and patient answering all questions and providing good advice. Good luck!
Thank you for your replies. She does have a payroll provider now. We’re looking at more of the hiring side and “HR” side. Developing the job description, pay rate, policies for them to follow. Those type of items. I was able to find a great resource and developed a checklist.
But I will check to see what other support her payroll company provides; that’s a great idea!! Thanks againJulianne,
As you look at the payroll company, make sure that they are used to dealing with household payroll as that is different than business payroll. Household payroll is reported differently to Social Security and the IRS and there are very different employment laws related to caregivers.
Katie
I agree with the others that a payroll service is the only way to go for a private employee.
On another note – it seems like a huge responsibility for a DMM to oversee a live-in employee, including insurances, background checks, etc. as well as care coordination. Then there is the concern of back up in the event of employee illness or emergency. You are on your own. I’m not sure where you are located, but i recently met with someone from FCP Live-in (fcplivein.com) and was impressed with their program. I think they service New England states, maybe more. I’m sure there are other similar live-in providers around the country.
Lisa, some of the responsibilities you list about an live-in caregiver sound more like the types of responsibilities that a Geriatric Care Manager would focus on more than a DMM. For myself, I would focus on payment to the person (via payroll company), and possibly setting up a controlled debit card for this person to use, but would limit my role to just the financial side and not the care providing side. So that would limit my responsibility and liability for care.
Thank you all for your responses. Although this is no longer applicable (the client has decided to go another route), I was NOT being as involved as some thought. I was only trying to give some background and direction for her at her request. The client planned on overseeing the caregiver 100% and she already had a payroll company in place but they don’t do hiring. She just wanted to make sure she had her ducks in a row before hiring. Basically she wanted me to be HR in the hiring process and since I have that background…
I appreciate your feedback and will file it for any future requests.
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