Blogs

Guide to Hiring a Caregiver

By James Mellor posted 10-28-2019 15:51

  

When you need to hire a caregiver to provide in-home help, you want someone who provides a high level of care for an aging loved one and it helps if your loved one gets on well with the caregiver. 

Finding a good caregiver is not always that easy – it can be an emotional exercise when you have a vested interest in the dignity and well-being of the person being cared for. Here are some steps to bear in mind to help you find the best caregiver. 

Come up with a clear job description

You need to carefully think through all the needs of your loved one to come up with a job description. It may help you to walk through a week of what you do as a family caregiver, step by step. 

Writing every task down is the only way to determine factors such as how many hours you will need a caregiver to work and what tasks he or she will be responsible for. 

Offer a flexible hourly rate and pay legally

If you advertise that the hourly rate is flexible, and you will pay a higher rate for more experience, you will probably encourage the most experienced candidates to apply. It is important to pay the going rate in your area and if you pay less, you will probably get someone who doesn’t have the care skills you require. 

Tandem Careplanning offers private, caregiving solutions, and caregivers charge their own hourly rates. The company uses automated tools for payroll management, including making tax deposits and filing tax paperwork. 

You don’t want to try and save money by paying a caregiver ‘under the table.’ The IRS classifies private caregivers as household employees and trying to skip employment taxes could cause more trouble than it’s worth. 

Conduct multiple interviews

Consider having three interviews – one by phone, an in-person interview and then an interview where the top one or two candidates meet your aged loved one. Arrange a trial period before you make a permanent decision. 

It gives you an opportunity to see whether the arrangement is working and the caregiver an opportunity to see whether the job meets their expectations. 

Ask the right questions

It is often hard to assess from an interview alone how the candidate will cope in crisis situations. It helps if you ask questions about how the caregiver will respond in certain situations, such as when an Alzheimer patient wanders off and becomes confused or refuses to take medication. 

The questions you ask should be probing enough to help you find out more about the character of the caregiver. You want someone who is compassionate and has the necessary experience to know what to do in difficult situations. 

Check references

Even if you think the caregiver seems perfect, you need to check references. Ask whether the person would hire the caregiver again, what types of tasks were performed and whether they would recommend the caregiver to do your job. 

Hiring an inexperienced caregiver can put your loved one at risk. Older adults are also at more risk for fraud and abuse, so it is important to check for a criminal record all in states where the caregiver was employed. 

Have an employment contract

The purpose of the document is to clearly lay out all the terms of employment and any details discussed. Both you and the caregiver must sign the document to show that you both agree to the terms. The contract should include a detailed job description, a schedule, pay rate and pay periods, and whatever else you have agreed to during the interviews. 

0 comments
1 view

Permalink