A caregiver's hourly figure is only part of what the family pays for a shift. Before you compare two offers, count the driving that lands on the bill, because it can change the total without anyone calling it a rate increase.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

What drives the drive

Four things add time or money to a shift that the rate line does not show. Find each one in the offer, or ask in writing that it be named.

  1. Where the caregiver starts. Ask whether the clock starts when they leave home or when they reach your parent's door.
  2. Whether travel between stops is paid. If the caregiver serves more than one client in a day, ask how that time is counted.
  3. Who pays for errands by car, including pharmacy pickups and grocery runs, and at what mileage figure.
  4. Whether parking, tolls, or garage fees at the house are covered or billed on top.

Steps to count it

  1. Write down the address of the house and the address the caregiver would start from. Note the drive time at the hour the shift would begin.
  2. Ask each candidate, in writing, whether the drive to the house is paid and whether that time counts toward any minimum shift.
  3. List every errand you expect in a normal week that needs a car. Mark which ones the caregiver would do and which the family keeps.
  4. Ask how mileage for those errands is billed, and whether it is a separate line or folded into the hourly rate.
  5. Compare two offers using the same errand list and the same drive times. Do not compare the hourly figures alone.

Write it down

Start address: ______________________________

Drive time at shift start: ________ minutes

Travel paid? Yes / No / Written answer on file

Errand miles per week: ________

Who pays for parking or tolls: ______________________

Signs to slow down

If an offer says travel is included but will not say whether drive time counts toward the paid shift, get that answer in the written terms before you sign. If the caregiver asks the family to cover fuel or parking up front, treat it as an advance request and put it on paper before any money moves. If the job depends on the caregiver's own car and nobody has asked what paperwork covers driving a client, ask for that answer and keep a copy in your file.

What to keep

Keep the drive numbers in the same notebook as the hours log. When the monthly total does not match the offer, the drive line is the first place to look. See How We Write the Sheets for how each figure on this desk is tied to a public page, and Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring for where the drive question fits in the order of calls.