> Login Search Text Size A A A Careers Franchise Home Services About Us Education Center Blog News You are here: Home » Education Center » Family Caregiving » Hiring Your Own Caregivers Find your local Interim HealthCare Hiring Your Own Caregivers Many people are not aware of the pitfalls of hiring someone directly instead of using a credible home care agency. Here are two examples of what can go wrong and why it is important to understand every aspect of the process of hiring caregivers. Sarah's Story About Hiring Her Own Aide Sarah hired a home health aide for her mother based on a recommendation from a co-worker who had previously employed the individual. Sarah's mother needed help around the house because her arthritis was getting progressively worse and she was having some problems with her vision. Sarah's mother only needed 10 hours of service a week to help her with shopping, light housework and meal preparation. Unfortunately Sarah's mother took a turn for the worse when she fell and needed minor surgery. At that point, the family decided to ask the aide to live in full time and take care of Sarah's mother. The relationship seemed quite good and lasted until Sarah's mother unexpectedly passed away eight months later. Because the aide had given up all her clients to care for Sarah's mother, she decided to file for unemployment benefits. It was at that point the IRS became aware of Sarah's family as the employer and filed a lawsuit for back unemployment taxes, penalties and a fine. Sarah and her family were in disbelief and caught totally unaware of their responsibilities. They became involved in legal action that took over a year to resolve and many thousands of dollars in legal fees. Tom's Story About What Can Go Wrong When Hiring Caregivers Tom's father needed some help with his activities of daily living. Tom knew how important it was for his father to stay in his home so he looked in the local newspaper for someone who could help. He found Cassandra's advertisement and scheduled an interview. He was very impressed with Cassandra and hired her on the spot. Cassandra and Tom's father seemed to get along fine and everything seemed to be going well. About a month later Tom received a phone call from his father. He couldn't find his coin collection and the money he kept in a small dresser was missing. Tom immediately came home and found several other items missing. He called Cassandra but her phone was disconnected. He called the police and several months later they found Cassandra but unfortunately all of Tom's father's money and personal items were gone. Tom was shocked to learn that Cassandra had a record of stealing and drug abuse. Learn more about the different ways to hire caregivers and pitfalls to avoid. 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