21 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN-HOME CARE
1. No license is required in order to provide home aide services in California. Anyone can provide home aide services, even those with criminal histories, substance abuse issues, or personality disorders. These risks mean consumers must be diligent about the home aides and the agency they select.
2. In-home aides usually cannot legally work as self-employed, or "independent contractors". Federal tax codes and California law require home aide and other workers to meet 22 different criteria to qualify as an independent contractor. Unless a home aide works for multiple clients each month, sets his or her own work times and methods, and charges by the job, not the hour, they must be paid as an employee. That means someone must pay their Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment insurance taxes, provide workers' compensation insurance coverage, provide them a W-2 form at the end of the year, and report their wages to state and federal tax agencies.
3. Home care is a learned skill that includes knowing home sanitation, safe lifting and transferring, and gaining the cooperation of an elderly person with reduced cognitive awareness.
4. Some referral agencies give the appearance of being home aide agencies. They send out a worker, collect and distribute compensation. However, these agencies consider these people "independent contractors". This practice leaves their client subject to payroll tax and work injury liabilities.
5. Professional services from nurses and therapists are provided by home health agencies. Unlike home aide agencies, they are required to be licensed by the State of California. Personal care and home making services are provided by home aide agencies. There is no requirement for home aide agencies to be licensed in California.
6. Both home health and home aide agencies employ those they send to clients' homes as home aides and therefore assume responsibility for payroll taxes and any work injuries.
7. Hospitals by law must offer choices for home health and home aide services. Typically this is done with lists of names and telephone numbers of agencies or individuals. Few, if any hospitals perform any evaluation of these agencies or individuals. It is strictly buyer beware.
8. "Live-ins" who do more than personal care must have 12 consecutive hours off each day, and two consecutive 24 hour periods off each week, or be paid overtime. (See California Industrial Welfare Commission, Wage Order 15).
9. If the care giver lives on the premises, lodging and meals are considered earnings. The minimum value is set by the State, and they must be reported and payroll taxes paid on them.
10. The California minimum wage is now $8.00/hour. Pay must be calculated by the hours of work, not by shift, day, or week. This amount must be paid for all hours worked or required to be present. Therefore, the minimum pay for a 12 hour overnight shift is $96.00. No deduction is permitted for sleep time. Not paying at least the minimum wage for all hours the consumer controls the home aide's time (i.e., to be present) leads to significant fines plus the back pay. A single telephone call to the State's Wage and Hour Enforcement office in Santa Barbara can bring an investigation.
11. By state and federal law, employers are always responsible for injuries caused by work. A back injury claim averages $50,000. All employers must have workers' compensation insurance. Homeowner insurance policies may offer this, but the covered person must have been treated as an employee.
12. A person must be a citizen or have a "Green Card" to legally work in the United States. A California driver's license and original copy of a Social Security card are evidence of their eligibility. Hiring someone not eligible to work in the United States subjects the employer to a $1,000 fine.
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We strive to meet each of these ten standards continually for each client. Your needs are systematically assessed to create an individualized service plan.
We assumed all was done correctly. After mother passed away, we received a letter from the California Franchise Tax Board.
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Things You Should Know
Before Hiring a Care Giver
Consumers must be diligent about who they select to provide home aide services.
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