The Caregiver Agreement Names the Hours, Not the Hands: What to Write Down Before a Hired Helper Starts

A hired helper who arrives with a verbal understanding is a helper you will be arguing with in three weeks. The fix is not a long contract. It is a short written page that matches the day sheet, so both of you know what the helper is responsible for and what stays with you.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Tie every task to the sheet

Copy the tasks from the day sheet that the helper will do, line by line, with the hours they fall in. If the helper is covering the 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. stretch, the agreement names those tasks: meals, company, a walk to the mailbox, laundry, whatever is on the sheet. Anything not on the list is not the helper's job until you add it in writing. This one step prevents most of the quarrels that follow.

Write the medicine line plainly

Put the medicine boundary on the page in your own words. A hired in-home helper may give medication reminders and pick up a prescription as an errand. The helper does not sort, hand out, give, or manage any medicine. That stays with you, her doctor, and the pharmacist. If the agreement is vague on this, fix it before the first shift, not after the first missed dose.

Missed shifts and cancellations

Decide how much notice either side must give to cancel a shift. Decide who covers the gap when the helper is sick, and what you will do if the agreed cover does not come. Write down the backup number on the page. If she goes back into the hospital, decide whether the agreement pauses, continues, or ends, and who tells the helper.

Who is on the paper

Check whether you are hiring the person directly or through an agency, because the paper looks different for each. Ask whether the helper is insured and bonded, and ask the agency or a lawyer who is the employer on paper and who handles the taxes and paperwork. Those are questions for a professional who can answer for your situation, not something to settle on a handshake.

What to keep

Keep the signed page with the day sheet, not in a drawer. You will need to show the tasks and the boundary to the next person who covers for the helper, and to anyone who asks what the helper is allowed to do. For more on setting up help at home, the local help page lists the kinds of services to ask about.