The rate in your proposal is the number you can see. The rate notice decides how far the next invoice can move, and it is usually written in one sentence that is easy to skim past. Before you sign, find out who can change the hourly rate, what triggers a change, how you are told, and what you can do if you say no.

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Step 1: Find the rate sentence and the change sentence

Open the proposal or draft agreement. Mark two places: the sentence that states the hourly rate, and any sentence that uses words like adjust, review, increase, update, or revise. If you find no change sentence at all, write that down. Silence is an answer you need to ask about.

Write here:
Rate sentence (page, section): ____________________
Change sentence (page, section): ____________________
No change sentence found? Yes / No

Step 2: Ask five questions

  1. What can change the rate: a calendar date, a new caregiver, added hours, a holiday, a heavier task load, or something else?
  2. How many days of notice do I get before a new rate applies, and is that notice written?
  3. Does a new rate apply only to shifts after the notice date, or to shifts already on the schedule?
  4. Are holiday, weekend, or overnight hours priced differently, and is that difference in the same signed document?
  5. If I do not accept the new rate, what happens to the arrangement, and what does it cost to end it?

Step 3: Listen for the answers that should slow you down

  • 'Rates are reviewed as needed.' No trigger and no notice period means no limit on when the rate can move.
  • 'We will let you know.' Ask how, when, and by whom the notice is sent.
  • 'It follows the market.' Ask which market, measured how, and where you can check it yourself.
  • 'The new rate starts when we process the invoice.' That moves the change behind work you have already received.

Answers that are good to hear: a named trigger, a notice period stated in days, notice given in writing, changes that apply to future shifts only, and a sentence that says what happens if you decline.

Step 4: Find out who sets the rate

With an agency, the agency sets what you pay, and the caregiver's pay is a separate arrangement. Ask whether the caregiver's pay can change without your notice, and whether a change on their side can reach your invoice. With a direct hire, the rate is a term the two of you agree to. Ask what happens if either side wants a change, and whether it needs both signatures.

Write here:
Who sets the rate: ____________________
Who gives notice of a change: ____________________
Who signs off on it: ____________________

Step 5: Put the notice terms on one line

Copy the terms onto a single line so you can check them against each invoice.

Current rate: ____________ Trigger for a change: ____________ Notice days: ____ Notice given in writing? Yes / No Applies to: future shifts / all shifts Decline means: ____________________

Signs to walk away or stop

  • A change clause with no notice period.
  • A change dated before the notice was sent.
  • A refusal to put the change terms in the signed document.
  • A new rate applied to shifts already worked.
  • No written way to decline a change, or a fee for declining that you cannot find in writing.

Keep the proof and set a review day

Save every rate notice in the same folder as the signed copy. Set a review day on your calendar before the earliest possible change date. When an invoice shows a different number from the one on your line, compare it to the notice before you pay. For the steps that come before this one, see Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring. For the public pages behind the claims in this desk's guides, see Sources, and for how the sheets are written, see How We Write the Sheets.