Every shift leaves a trace, and that trace decides what you can prove later. Before the first shift, settle who writes down the start and stop times, where that record lives, and who signs it. This is the paper that matches the bill to the hours actually worked, so set it up before anyone is in your house.

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Steps

  1. Ask the provider how a shift is recorded: a caregiver-kept log, a phone check-in, a web portal, or an office form. Write the answer here: ______

  2. Ask who signs each week's record and who countersigns it, if anyone. Listen for a named role, not 'the team'. Write here: ______

  3. Ask what happens when a start time is wrong. The answer to listen for is a named person and a correction step done in writing. Walk away if the answer is that the caregiver's word is enough and nothing is written down.

  4. Ask how a late arrival, an early departure, or a cancelled shift appears on the record. Ask for a blank sample copy and read it at the kitchen table.

  5. Ask how long you can see past records and whether you can get a copy each week. Write the answer here: ______

  6. Set your own check: each week, compare the signed record to the hours you were told. Keep the paper in one folder with the contract and the invoices.

What a usable record shows

A usable record shows the date, the start time, the end time, the caregiver's name, the tasks done, and a signature line. A record that shows only total hours is weaker, because it cannot show when the hours happened. Ask for the full line, not just the total.

Signs to stop and ask again

  • No written record exists, only verbal reports.
  • The provider cannot name who keeps the record.
  • Corrections happen by phone with no paper trail.

Keep the record and the bill together. The point is not to catch anyone. The point is that when a question comes up later, the answer is on paper and not in memory.

For the full order of the hiring steps, see Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring.