Answered a question 10/8/2011 at 5:22 pm
There are several significant concerns that families take when hiring privately. Full disclosure here: I own a non-medical, in-home caregiving service.
...Read MoreThere are several significant concerns that families take when hiring privately. Full disclosure here: I own a non-medical, in-home caregiving service.
1. Taxes - not only those which should be withheld from the caregiver and remitted to the government, such as the employee's income taxes, social security and medicare taxes, but also those which the EMPLOYER must pay, which include social security and medicare taxes equal to the employee's share or more, plus Federal and State Unemployment taxes. Yes, that's right, the employer must pay those, not the employee. If you privately hire a caregiver and then later let them go, they can file for unemployment benefits and then the state government will come calling to ask for back taxes for not only your employer taxes but also the ones that your should have been withholding and paying on behalf of the employee as well. Then, it's your responsibility to try to recover the employee's share of that back tax mess - which will be just about impossible.
There are other significant financial and operational risks besides taxes:
No home care company to sue for negligence if the caregiver causes harm or steals.
No home care company to be accountable if the caregiver claims, or fakes, an on-the job work injury. In California, at least, if the employee claims that they were hurt on the job, it is virtually impossible to rebut that claim, regardless of whether there were any witnesses, etc.
No home care company to hold accountable to provide a replacement fill-in, qualified and insured, caregiver when the regular caregiver can't work due to sickness, car problems, etc.
No home care company to hold accountable for any other problems, losses or damages caused by the caregiver.
It may be tempting to "save money" by hiring privately but those "savings" can turn into family finance-crippling costs when there is a problem that arises like a genuine or fake work injury. In California, work injuries that cost more than $100,000 in medical expenses and lifetime partial disability awards are VERY commonplace. It takes a whole lot of hours with "savings" of a few dollars per hour to make it worth taking those risks.