Before you compare hours or settle on a start, find out who the caregiver works for. Three arrangements are common. The agency employs the caregiver and sends them to your house. The caregiver runs their own business and contracts with you or with an agency. Your family employs the caregiver directly and handles the paperwork yourselves. Each answer moves the jobs of payroll, replacement, insurance, and scheduling to a different name, so get the answer before you look at anything else. The practice behind this step is laid out on the Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring page.

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: Ask the question in plain words

  1. Ask: Who is the employer of record for the person who would work in my parent's house?
  2. Ask: Whose name is on the pay record, and who signs it each pay period?
  3. Ask: If the caregiver is hurt or sick, which company or person do I call first?

Write here:

Employer: ____________________

Pay record signed by: ____________________

First call if something goes wrong: ____________________

Step 2: Ask what the answer changes

  1. Ask who withholds and reports any taxes on the caregiver's pay, and who receives the paperwork.
  2. Ask who finds a replacement when the caregiver cannot come, and how long that usually takes.
  3. Ask who carries injury coverage for the caregiver while they work in your house.

Write here:

Taxes handled by: ____________________

Replacement handled by: ____________________

Injury coverage carried by: ____________________

Answers to listen for

A clear, named employer. A reply that matches the written agreement. A reply that names the same party for pay, replacement, and coverage. An offer to put the answer in a short written statement that you keep.

Signs to walk away

  • The answer changes between two calls to the same office.
  • The provider says the caregiver is on their own, and cannot say who covers an injury.
  • A direct hire with no plan for who handles payroll paperwork or replacement.

If the written answer is still unclear after you have it in hand, take it to a Missouri employment lawyer or an accountant before you sign. The Local Help for Hiring a Caregiver page lists where to start locally.