We’re often asked by clients who need to hire an in-home caregiver for family members whether they should advertise and hire someone privately or go through an agency.
It’s definitely easier to go through an agency, at least if you plan to “go by the book.” Various laws make it difficult to hire an in-home caregiver on one’s own. You have to get worker’s compensation insurance, pay into your state’s unemployment insurance pool, and take FICA and income taxes out of your employee’s pay and deposit it with the federal and state governments.
A private agency will be set up to do all of this for you. In addition, private agencies conduct background checks on employees as well as provide for supervision and backup if your home care worker is unavailable on a particular day.
For these reasons, it makes sense in most cases to use a private agency, the number of which seem to have proliferated in recent years. But, as with everything, ask around before you choose a particular agency to see what experience others have had with it. And ask to speak to a few of the agency’s clients before making a decision.
Are there any drawbacks to using a private home care agency? Mainly price and loss of control. Anyone you hire through an agency is serving two masters, for better or worse. This can help if there’s a problem but also means that you will have less control.
In addition, agencies charge for the services they provide over and above what they pay the caregiver. If you already have someone you know well and trust, perhaps a family member, you may want to hire him or her directly. This may also be the case if you simply cannot afford the agency rates and can find someone to hire for less. But be aware that if that person is injured on the job, you could be personally liable.
In short, go with an agency if you can, but look at alternatives if necessary.