I would love to hear why the OP is asking this question.
I paid a woman to bathe Mom. She came 3x a week. I paid her on Friday, the last day she worked that week.
I would think daily aides have timesheets they need to hand in weekly. It would have to do with who pays the bills. If its caring for a spouse and the other spouse is there, then the aide gets paid at the eow. When I worked, I was not paid for my week till the end of the next week because a payroll company was involved. So when I left that job, I was owed a check.
Did you ever get a paycheck in advance? I bet not. No you do not pay anyone in advance. What incentive is there to show up at work? You hire the caregiver and they work X number of hours then they are paid. You can pay daily if that is the agreement. You can pay weekly, bi weekly and less common monthly. And the payment schedule is typically contained in the contract. (Make sure you are taking out for taxes and reporting the income)
Let me see if I get this. You're asking about paying the caregivers 'in advance'. In advance of what?
I have done aide work where the client themselves wasn't writing the paychecks anymore. One such position involved an out-of-town adult child who was the POA doing the pay. He only came to town twice a month so I got paid every two weeks. I worked for his parents for a long time and he did not need to scrutinize the time sheets because I'm an honest person. So were the additional aides I brought in because they needed more coverage than one person could provide.
I never burned him and he never burned me. In private care there is often what old-school CNA's like myself call the 'Understanding'. The 'Understanding' is our pay will be where it's supposed to be every week. Same time, same place and no one takes advantage.
In return we work what out hours are and take good care of your loved ones while we are on the clock. Another big part of the 'Understanding' is that if you trust the care and safety of your needy loved ones to us on our own, you shouldn't need to scrutinize a time sheet out of fear that you may have paid a cent more than what you think we've earned.
Now, if you're using a homecare agency that is something entirely different. The 'Understanding' does not apply. I am the owner of a homecare agency. When a new client contracts with us, they pay a fee. This fee covers matching their care needs to a caregiver who is trained and can handle their situation. The fee also covers me coming out personally to the home and introducing the caregiver to the client and processinng all of the necessary paperwork. If for some reason or other the client backs out of the contract, I do not refund their fees. No homecare agency does.
If you're dealing with a homecare agency and they ask you to pay for hours in advance, I would strongly suggest you find a different agency. An agency asking for hours to be paid in advance is not appropriate.
We payed privately for a wonderful woman to care for our parents before they moved to AL. Although she tucked her halo and wings out of sight while working, we never paid in advance. We did negotiate however and change terms along the way as needed. She asked for cash every Friday in the beginning, which I declined since, as POA, I need a paper trail of all payments. We did pay by check every Friday until my parents couldn’t write it out any more, about a year. Then we went to pay by auto-billing from the bank. I required a time sheet, if you will, that she hand wrote and was consecutive for the month..a running list more or less. She texted a photo every week for documentation of new hours (even though in all reality her check was in the mail.) By that time we trusted her completely. We also after many months allowed a flex ‘time bank’ ( she always worked a bit more and I wanted to honor her time!) She ended up building up time, once used it for a day off and she even gave us advance notice. And we gave her payment at the end for all the extra 15 mins and 30 mins buts she had accumulated. We might have had a very uncommon experience, she was wonderful and we were so very very blessed to have her care for our parents. Hope this helps! Good luck
As a general rule, no. You wouldn’t pay a contractor to do a repair in advance. Once you advance the money, and they don’t show up again, you have no recourse.
16 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
I paid a woman to bathe Mom. She came 3x a week. I paid her on Friday, the last day she worked that week.
I would think daily aides have timesheets they need to hand in weekly. It would have to do with who pays the bills. If its caring for a spouse and the other spouse is there, then the aide gets paid at the eow. When I worked, I was not paid for my week till the end of the next week because a payroll company was involved. So when I left that job, I was owed a check.
ADVERTISEMENT
Why are you asking?
Gena / Touch Matters
No you do not pay anyone in advance. What incentive is there to show up at work?
You hire the caregiver and they work X number of hours then they are paid.
You can pay daily if that is the agreement.
You can pay weekly, bi weekly and less common monthly.
And the payment schedule is typically contained in the contract.
(Make sure you are taking out for taxes and reporting the income)
I have done aide work where the client themselves wasn't writing the paychecks anymore. One such position involved an out-of-town adult child who was the POA doing the pay. He only came to town twice a month so I got paid every two weeks. I worked for his parents for a long time and he did not need to scrutinize the time sheets because I'm an honest person. So were the additional aides I brought in because they needed more coverage than one person could provide.
I never burned him and he never burned me. In private care there is often what old-school CNA's like myself call the 'Understanding'. The 'Understanding' is our pay will be where it's supposed to be every week. Same time, same place and no one takes advantage.
In return we work what out hours are and take good care of your loved ones while we are on the clock.
Another big part of the 'Understanding' is that if you trust the care and safety of your needy loved ones to us on our own, you shouldn't need to scrutinize a time sheet out of fear that you may have paid a cent more than what you think we've earned.
Now, if you're using a homecare agency that is something entirely different. The 'Understanding' does not apply. I am the owner of a homecare agency. When a new client contracts with us, they pay a fee. This fee covers matching their care needs to a caregiver who is trained and can handle their situation. The fee also covers me coming out personally to the home and introducing the caregiver to the client and processinng all of the necessary paperwork. If for some reason or other the client backs out of the contract, I do not refund their fees. No homecare agency does.
If you're dealing with a homecare agency and they ask you to pay for hours in advance, I would strongly suggest you find a different agency. An agency asking for hours to be paid in advance is not appropriate.
I imagine it would be negotiable depending on the demand for caregivers and the formality of the arrangement.