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I want to know what is fair as far as having someone live in with Mom so that someone is there at night. No need to get up, Mom does well, however, if getting up it would be nice to have her checked in. Help Mom with her breakfast (toast, cereal, coffee) get her newspaper and mail and dispense her medication. Open drapes. Keep personal space tidy (bathroom, bedroom) and help with keeping kitchen cleaned as it is used. Laundry, free wi-fi, garage, room and board and $250.00 stipend.

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You will be an employer and required to pay taxes. $400? Live in even if able to sleep most of the time is about a $4,000.00 a month job minimum. If you were to bring in an agency for this task, that would be about a 10,000.00 minimum. I hate to think of the sorts of people you would get with room and board and $400.00 a month!
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Jevy Glad is not giving you a nonsence answer.. she is telling it like it is. 250 a month or a week? This is way too low unless you are providing health care coverage, retirement.. etc. Could you live on 250 a month? ( heck my cell phone bill would eat 1/3 of that!) And I know I could not work 24-7 by myself! Maybe we need more info? as for getting info from people you don't know,,, that seems to be the purpose of this forum. But we are all friendly and trying to help. Good luck with this.. it;s a hard thing to deal with.
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This person would need to be available at night, but would seldom have to do anything then? And would have some morning duties every day? Then would this person be free to leave the premises? For example, could she or he attend full time classes? Work another job? Be off writing The Great American Novel?

What hours would you expect this person to be present in the house?

By "board" do you mean 3 meals a day? Would this person be preparing the meals?

It would help to know exactly what you are expecting.

As Glad says, fulltime live-in caregiving is extremely expensive. But it sounds like that might not be what you are looking for. Please explain.
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Ah, jlevy16, that is what I was asking. We just needed more information.

You need someone to be on the premises overnight and through breakfast, with no other duties than that. OK. That is very different than a live-in caregiver.

What are this person's hours? When does the last caregiver shift end? When could the person leave in the morning? It sounds like it might work for someone going to school. Are there any appropriate schools in your area?

I really don't know about a fair stipend, but I think this is a very interesting and legitimate question. Lots of people could get by in their own homes longer if they had someone there at night. Lots of people could take care of their parents longer if there was someone else to get up with them at night.

So, what is a reasonable payment for such a night+breakfast shift? In this case the expectation is the employee could sleep most nights. In other cases, the client may be up a lot at night and would need supervision.

I'd like to hear responses from people more familiar with hiring practices than I am.

What would be reasonable pay, 1) when the expectation is emergency-only night duty? 2) When the person would be expected to stay awake?
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Oh, not 400.00 a month, $250.00! Jlevy there are non-profit organizations that are actively seeking out situations such as this to assist the caregiver in prosecuting the employer. Google "caregiver rights" to see a sampling.
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Jlevy, We read many stories like yours here. Most of them think room and board are sufficient to provide round the clock care. In fact, this is a situation I am bery familiar with. I provided round the clock for four years for my mom that wanted to pay me. I had left my job and home. Twisteds sisters said it was only fair for mom to pay me since they were busy with their lives and did not have to be concerned with anything related to mom. Until they called APS reporting me for financial explotation, there was none, and one of the twisteds had all control of mom's accounts. So, she knew there was no financial explotation in any way! Why was it so hard to get payment? Because the twisteds were concerned about what would be left for them after mom passed. So now she is in memory care paying three times what I was finally able to receive as payment.

If this overnight person is solely for someone to be there for the night with mom and they can work a regular job or go to school or write that novel, that is something else again. But, I would check with your accountant how the room and board need to be addressed for tax purposes, it would be considered income for that overnight person.
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I live in an area where many people have nannies, I researched live-ins when my dad was ill. A nanny or elder live in caregiver 4 years ago in Miami, typically made about $300 for Monday through Friday. Weekends off, only occasionally walking up at night, with a room to themselves. Not trying to start a political discussion, but these are typically / or at least often undocumented workers, often middle aged ladies, supporting families back home. Often not professionally trained, but have raised their own kids and cared for their own elders, or some relevant prior experience. Some are CNAs and documented, but prefer to work independently. They are often OK with the low pay coupled with the ability to live in a better neighborhood than they could afford on minimum wage. These folks are typically working for cash. This is done by many. Beware, this can put you in a very difficult situation, if for example the person gets hurt on the job. I do know of some of these situations that work well and the caregivers are exceptional and loving.
Be advised that if you pay beneath the going rate, the caregiver will likely move on as soon as they get a better offer, and one will eventually come along.

Even at $300, $400 or $500 a week these caregivers earn every cent.
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gladimhere, I was asking. Please stop sending me nonsense replies. I am trying to figure out what is a good solution.
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If people don't have a good response they should just leave it. I have enough stress trying to figure this out and then have some person I don't even know respond with nonsense.
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What's fair also depends on whether you're going to treat this person as an employee or as an independent contractor. Are you planning to take deductions from her pay, provide her with a 1099 at the end of the year, obtain insurance coverage for her?
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