Most families never write down when a caregiver is supposed to arrive. The caregiver shows up at 8:40, the family pictured 9:00, the provider assumed 'morning,' and by the second shift nobody can say who was wrong. This page sets the arrival window on paper before the first paid hour, so every later question about lateness has an answer you wrote yourself.
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Step 1: Write the window, not just the start time
A single start time invites argument. Write an earliest acceptable arrival and a latest acceptable arrival. Fill in the lines below before you talk to any provider again.
Earliest arrival: ____________________
Latest arrival: ____________________
Minutes past the latest arrival before it counts as late: ____________________
Step 2: Name who gets the call
When a caregiver is running behind, someone has to phone the household. Decide who that is on your side, and get the provider's name for the same job. Write both down.
Household person to call if the caregiver is late: ____________________ Number: ____________________
Provider person who calls the household about a late or missed arrival: ____________________ Number: ____________________
Step 3: Decide what the caregiver does on arrival
Some homes use a door code, some use a key already on file, and some want a knock and a sign-in. Pick one method and write it. If you use a key or code, the handoff rules belong on a separate page in your folder, so note only the arrival step here.
Arrival method: ____________________
Sign-in or arrival log kept where: ____________________
Step 4: Decide what happens if nobody has arrived
Set the time at which you stop waiting and act. Write what you will do then, such as calling the provider's backup line, calling a second contact in your folder, or leaving the house to cover the gap yourself.
No arrival by this time: ____________________ Action: ____________________
Questions to ask the provider
Ask each of these and write the answer in the margin, word for word if you can.
1. What is your arrival window for a new client, and does it match the one I wrote above?
2. If a caregiver is running late, who calls me, and how soon after the window closes?
3. Do you record arrival and departure times, and can I see that record on request?
4. Where in the paperwork is the late-arrival rule written, and what page number is it on?
Answers to listen for
A good answer names a window with a number of minutes, names a person who makes the call, and points to a log you can read. Write down the exact minutes they give you, because that number becomes the test later.
Signs to walk away
Stop and reconsider the provider if it will not put an arrival window in writing, cannot name who calls you when a caregiver is late, says lateness is 'not really a thing,' or has no record of when past caregivers arrived. Any one of these means you will be settling arrival disputes by memory.
What to write down before the first shift
Keep the filled-in lines above in the same folder as the signed agreement. Copy the provider's arrival rule onto the same page so both sides are reading from one sheet. For the full order of start-up steps, see Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring. For how these sheets are built and checked, see How We Write the Sheets.