Just wondering if anyone in L.A. area has had good experience to recommend a reputable caregiver agency.

When I needed to hire caregivers through an agency to deal with family, they weren't so wonderful, charged an arm and a leg, and the agency kept most of the money saying "insurance".

Instead I talked to a head nurse at a elder care home and asked for recommendations. When patient dies at a elder care home, their caregiver needs to find another patient/job -- and quickly.

Robert,

I understand there will be big extra costs but are you concerned about the workers comp requirement that the agency would pay for so I don't need to deal with it?

And are you concerned about the fact that they would absolutely be considered your employee if they chose to make an issue of it so you need to do medicare and social security payroll deductions. Agency also handles that and carries liability insurance and is bonded.

I don't like paying so much but the units are rented and bring in big bucks so I get piece of mind and good care for someone I care about.

I used to deal with all sorts of things as you describe and never had a problem but the apartment biz changed my mindset. Just not worth the potential problems for me any more.

A "Home Owners" primary insurance policy in California has Worker Comp Coverage. Not landlord policy. So I'd stick the elderly relative in my second or third home where my policy covers workers and helpers.

Or I can obtain a Workers Comp Policy based on the salary paid and job description.

DO NOT, and I repeat NO NOT USE CareNetLA.

Just be really careful. Some of the care givers are quite good, some are not.

I used to get frequent applications from tenants whose income came from care giving, working for an agency, and on the screening they would show up with criminal history and bad credit. The bad credit might or might not be an issue for care giving, but the criminal record would be a problem for me.

They were people I wouldn't allow into my house as a tenant and I wouldn't allow them into my house to take care of a person with reduced capability to care for themselves.

It was a very long time ago, but my grandmother ended up in a rest home run by Mennonites. It was a very clean, humane, and well run place, as required by their religion. So check and see if they have something in your area.

Yes, REMOVE all valuables. A care giver stole my mother’s wedding / engagement rings. Who knows what else they took.

I learned my lesson years ago when a caregiver stole my grandmother ring off her hand while she was having a stroke! Couldn't prove it unfortunately. Lesson learned the hard way for me. Still brings me close to tears. And some of the worst applicants I have screened were home health care workers.

Robert,

I recently checked with 2 companies with which I have homeowners policy and there is additional charge if the worker will be there more than a minimal number of hours which will be the case. The included coverage price is meant to cover a weekly gardener or very occasional handyman.

As for payroll deductions, as the employer you are responsible for the employer portion which is almost 8 percent. And you are absolutely considered an employer if you hire an independent caregiver regardless of what the caregiver might agree to sign. If they decide they want those deductions paid by you later on, you will lose, guaranteed.

The situation that we have all probably heard about is the employee who wants to work without declaring the income. Yes, that person will not rock the boat about being an employee since they bring on problems of their own. But do you really want to rely on someone's care if you know they are already cutting corners with their taxes. I'm not feeling good about that.

I believe the hourly cost from an agency will be approx. $30 per hour and that is also supposed to include liability insurance and the cost of the bond for the caregiver. Also they are willing to send you a different caregiver to divide up the time to avoid overtime such as one caregiver for 8 hours and then another arrives to do 4 hours. The $30 cost per hour covers everything they say but I need to verify that.

Clearly it is more expensive but not as much as it seems at first glance. Besides, you have always recognized the value of hiring a licensed, bonded, insured contractor.