When a family asks what happens if the caregiver is sick, on vacation, or simply does not come, the answer is in a set of terms that are often spread across several pages. This guide shows you how to collect those terms onto one page and read them the way a family would need them to work on a bad morning.

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.

Step 1: Gather the paper

  1. Ask for every written document that describes the caregiver's absence, substitute, replacement, refund, or credit terms.
  2. Ask whether the terms in the proposal match the terms in the final agreement.
  3. Put the documents in one folder labelled with the parent's name.

Step 2: Mark the notice rules

  1. Who must give notice when the regular caregiver cannot come, the agency or the family?
  2. How many hours of notice does the paper require, and is it the same for planned and unplanned absences?
  3. Does the paper say how the family is told the name of a substitute before the shift starts?

Write here: Notice owed by ________. Hours of notice required ________. Name of substitute given by ________.

Step 3: Read the replacement clause

Look for whether the paper promises a substitute within a set time, or only says the company will make reasonable efforts. A promise with a time can be checked. A phrase like best efforts cannot. Ask whether a substitute is billed on the same terms as the regular caregiver, and whether the family may decline a substitute.

  1. Write the time limit for a substitute, if there is one: ________.
  2. Write the phrase the paper uses for its effort: ________.
  3. Write whether the family may decline a substitute, and how: ________.

Step 4: Find the refund or credit trigger

Find the sentence that says what triggers a refund or credit, such as a missed shift, a late arrival, or a shift that is not covered. Write down the exact trigger and who decides whether it has happened. If the paper says only at our discretion, ask for the decision to be written as a specific rule.

Signs to walk away

  1. The replacement terms exist only in what someone told you on the phone.
  2. The paper has no replacement clause at all.
  3. Refunds or credits can be granted only at the company's discretion, with no stated trigger.

Write here: The paper that holds the replacement terms is ________. The sentence I will ask about is ________.

Next move

To understand how this desk reads the documents it refers to, see How We Write the Sheets. Then compare the replacement terms against the steps in Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring before you sign.