In reference to the Sun Newspapers’ Crime Log article from May 26, “Woman Steals $287,000 From LW Man,” our seniors need better education on the dangers that exist in the hiring of a caregiver. As the owner of a local agency that has been in business 27 years, I have seen an alarming decay in the quality of service provided by direct hires as well as agency-supplied caregivers in the recent past.
As one of our clients told me the other day, “bad times bring out bad people.” The article didn’t indicate if the caregiver was hired through an agency or as a direct hire. In either case, there are risks for the person doing the hiring.
The biggest risks
The biggest risks are in a direct hire by the client (sometimes called off the books or under the table). The person doing the hiring is responsible for all employment requirements. Things such as caregiver training, background checks, proof of eligibility to work in the U.S., general and professional liability insurance, bonding for theft, workmen’s comprehensive insurance, state and federal payroll taxes and caregiver supervision are the responsibility of the person hiring the caregiver directly.
If this was the case in the Crime Log report, then the LW resident would be out $287,000 with little or no hope of recovery of the loss.
Hiring through an agency, while less risky, also has its risks. Not all agencies do all they should to protect clients.
In California, other than a simple city business license, primarily for tax purposes, there are neither state nor local regulations that apply nor is there routine inspection of the operation of home care agencies.
State wage orders and payroll tax payments are circumvented by not hiring the caregivers, but instead using them as independent contractors.
Some agencies do not provide caregiver training, background checks, proof of eligibility to work in the U.S., general and professional liability insurance, bonding for theft, workmen’s comprehensive insurance and field supervision.
With no random checks or inspections, there is little risk to the agency doing business this way of being caught. Any problems are usually discovered after a negative incident.
If that happens this type agency just closes its’ doors and leaves the client “holding the bag.”
The best protection
The best way to protect oneself when engaging a caregiver for work in your home is to look for an agency that has been in business for a while, has a local address and phone number and most importantly is a member of one of the home care associations that verify their business practices.
Associations such as American Board of Home Care (www.abhc.info) or California Association for Health Services at Home (www.CAHSAH.org) do their best to verify that member agencies do business in such a way as to protect the clients in every way possible. As an example, ABHC verifies each year that member agencies hire and pay payroll taxes for their caregivers, does background checks on caregivers, covers general/professional liability insurance, bonding and workman’s compensation insurance covering the caregivers.
The lesson to be learned from this tragedy is to do your homework and checkout an agency beforehand.
If you do hire directly, understand that you are responsible for having an employee and are liable for payroll taxes, bonding and workman’s comprehensive coverage, or the potential fees and fines after an incident, if you don’t have these items.
Dick Davies is director of Williams & Williams Homecare, Inc., of Long Beach; director at large, executive board, for the American Board of Home Care and assistant chairman of the American Board of Home Care of Los Angeles County.
