How To Directly Hire Your Own Caregiver
Although there’s nothing preventing a person from directly hiring a caregiver, it’s a decision that requires a complete understanding to avoid an unfavorable outcome. Whether it’s a friend of the family or a someone you found on a caregiver referral website, individuals don’t often understand the risks until it’s too late. Although, directly hiring a caregiver may be less expensive than working with a home care company, there’s a very good reason agencies exist in the first place. Let’s explore that together.
Scheduling Is A Lot Of Work
When you hire a caregiver directly, you need to step into managing their schedule. This may sound simple but, it’s one of the more complicated parts of working with independent caregivers. Just because the caregiver you’re talking to says they can work the exact schedule you want, doesn’t mean they’ll be able to do so indefinitely.
What happens if they get sick, have a major life event, get in a car accident, find a different job opportunity? Theses are all valid and frequent life occurrences for independent caregiver. What if after doing all your research to find the right caregiver, you find out they’re just not a good fit, or they end up stealing from you? When these kinds of events occur, many individuals have no back up plan and are left scrambling for a solution. Finding a new caregiver takes time and can lead to a rushed decision, ultimately repeating the same cycle. That’s why it makes sense to hire a home care company like Affordable HomeCare, because we know how to handle all these situations without passing any of the headaches on to you.
Taxes Are Complicated
Everyone knows how fun taxes are! Well, employer taxes are just as fun. That’s why many independent caregivers suggest being paid in cash to avoid the hassle of taxes. We shouldn’t have to say this, but that under the table arrangement is illegal, and will eventually catch up with you.
As an easier alternative, many people attempt to directly hire a caregiver as a 1099 independent contractor. Although this arrangement shifts the tax burden onto the caregiver, it too is an illegal practice that the IRS is actively cracking down on. An attempt from your caregiver to collect unemployment insurance, sometimes years after care stops, is when the IRS will come knocking at your door. The independent contractor arrangement was designed for professionals like plumbers who work on their own schedule. They tell you when they’ll be at your home and tell you what types of job functions they’ll do.
When hiring a caregiver, you set the schedule expectations and the job duties, which is the exact definition of an W-2 employee. All employees are legally required to be hired as W-2 employees. This requires “you” the employer to pay all the necessary employer/employee taxes, file them timely, and maintain accurate records.
When you choose to hire an agency to provide home care you don’t have to deal with any of the tax issues or risks of doing them wrong. With Affordable HomeCare you’ll receive one simple invoice that covers everything and keeps Uncle Sam from knocking on your door.
Good Insurance Is Critical
Let’s face it, insurance is expensive. That’s why insurance is often overlooked when people directly hiring a caregiver. However, insurance protects individuals from situations that could end up costing them tens of thousands of dollars more than the cost of a policy. For insistence, what happens if your caregiver decides to sue you? Are you prepared to spend the $20,000 average it costs to take a lawsuit to trial and risk losing? This could end up costing you your house, car, and lifesaving? Liability insurance can protect you.
How about when your caregiver falls down your stairs and breaks their back? That can easily cost you over $300,000. That might should farfetched, so how about something most of us can relate to like a slip and fall. The average cost of a slip and fall accident is between $30,000-$40,000. Slip and falls also happen to be one of the most exploited accidents from independent caregiver. With our frigid winters, Michigan sees more slip and fall claims than most other states. The myth that homeowners insurance will protect you for these occurrences is false. The only insurance you can fall back on is workers compensation.
Unfortunately, few insurance companies are willing to take on your risk, as they understand you’re not an experienced employer. Insurance companies who are willing to work with you will not be cheap. That’s why it makes sense to hire a company like Affordable HomeCare. We take on all risk so you can sleep at night knowing you’re protected.
Hiring Takes A Special Touch
Many people assume that caregiver referral sites do a thorough job screening the random people on their site. However, truth of the matter is many of these individuals have no caregiving experience or are unemployable though a home care agency for one reason or another. Anyone who feels like being a caregiver simply uploads a picture with a fluffy profile and there’re instantly “qualified”. Without visually observing a caregiver’s skills, there’s no way you can be certain they understand how to be a caregiver, or they are who they say they are. It takes an expert who’s interviewed hundreds of caregivers to determine if they really have what it takes. At Affordable HomeCare we know how to hand pick excellent Care Pro’s. That’s why we only hire 5% of our applicants, so you only get the best.