You have two quotes on the table. One includes payroll. The other says the caregiver is an independent contractor and leaves the rest unexplained. Do not compare the hourly numbers yet. First identify who controls the work and who accepts the employer tasks.

The IRS says a household worker may be your employee when you control both what work is done and how it is done. The label in an agreement does not settle that question. An agency-provided worker may instead be the agency's employee when the agency controls the work. See the IRS household-employer materials collected on the Sources page.

1. Ask who employs the caregiver

Use one question: "Whose employee is the person who will work in the house?"

Listen for a direct answer naming the agency, the family, or the caregiver's own business. "They are a contractor" is not enough. Ask who gives instructions, sets the schedule, supplies replacements, evaluates the work, and can remove the caregiver from the assignment. Those control facts are part of the IRS employee classification test described in Publication 926 and the IRS independent-contractor guidance listed on the Sources page.

Write down: Named employer: __________. Person who controls the work: __________. Document that confirms it: __________.

2. Make the quote name every payroll task

Ask: "Who records wages, calculates withholding, makes employer tax payments, issues the wage statement, and keeps the payroll records?"

For a household employee, federal responsibilities can include an employer identification number, wage and tax records, Form W-2, and Schedule H. Whether particular taxes apply depends on the governing rules and the wages paid. Missouri also maintains separate unemployment-insurance rules for domestic or household employment. The relevant IRS and Missouri Department of Labor pages are identified on the Sources page.

Write down: Timekeeping: __________. Payroll calculation: __________. Tax payments: __________. Wage statement: __________. Record retention: __________.

3. Separate included cost from family-owned cost

Draw two columns. Put each quoted charge in the first. Put every task the family must arrange in the second. Include payroll administration, employer-side taxes when applicable, required filings, recordkeeping, and any outside payroll service the family expects to use.

This is the comparison that matters: provider invoice plus family-owned employment costs and work. The agency-or-direct hiring sheet explains why the hiring route changes which responsibilities stay with the family.

Write down: Included in quote: __________. Paid separately: __________. Performed by family: __________. Still unanswered: __________.

4. Ask for the sentence in the agreement

Say: "Show me where the agreement identifies the employer and assigns payroll reporting and employer taxes." Read the actual clause. A salesperson's explanation does not replace a contract term.

If the agreement says the caregiver is self-employed, compare that statement with the control answers from Step 1. The IRS directs families to examine the full working relationship, including behavioral control, financial control, and the nature of the relationship. Those public tests are collected on the Sources page.

Write down: Agreement section: __________. Employer named there: __________. Payroll duties assigned there: __________.

5. Stop when the answers conflict

Walk away from the comparison for now if the provider calls the caregiver a contractor but cannot say who controls the work, if payroll is described as "handled" without naming the handler, or if the written agreement assigns duties differently from the phone answer.

Do not resolve the conflict by guessing. Mark the quote incomplete and ask for a corrected written answer. If you need to restart the comparison, use Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring.

Final line: I can compare this quote only after __________ confirms in writing that __________ owns payroll and __________ owns any costs outside the quoted rate.