Can a Hired Caregiver File a Lawsuit Against Your Family?

More and more families are turning to hiring caregivers. Most of these families view the biggest challenge as being able to find someone that is a good fit. This part is certainly important, but there are other things that matter as well. For instance, you must take the important steps to ensure that your family is legally protected. If you skip this step, you could end up facing a lawsuit.

But what are some instances that can lead to a preferred homecare lawsuit?

Instances when a Hired Homecare giver can Sue Your Family

1. Failure to pay overtime
Minimum wage requirements accounts for the first 40 hours of a week. Beyond that, you might be expected to pay for the overtime. Even when the total for the week remains under 40 hours, there are some states that might require you to make overtime pay after 8 hours in a single day.

If your caregiver lives onsite and is regularlyhelping out with the client beyond the 8-hour shift, the payments must be in accordance with your state’s overtime pay laws.

2. When faced with harassment in the job
Some states have laws that protects homecare aidesfrom harassment on the job as well. It is important that your family treats employees well for both moral reasons as well as legal reasons. If a hired caregiver suffers harassment at your hands, you could end up facing a lawsuit over it.

3. Not being paid the legal wage
This is a common issue in the homecare sector. Most families pay their aides what they assume to be good salaries and offer them lodging and food. It is essential that they make sure that the value of the food, wages, lodgings and other perquisites add up to the minimum wage

Your idea of a good salary does not matter if it does not match up with the law requirements. If a homecare aide realizes they are not making as much as they are entitled to legally, they can decide to sue you.

4. They suffered an injury in the job
When you employ a homecare aide, you become accountable for all the dutiesproprietors take on their employees. This includes the worker’s compensation if your care giver gets hurts while on duty. If the caregiver files a suit and you are found guilty, you can be required to pay costs of medical expenses and lost earnings, as well as additional penalties if they lack the required insurance.

How can you Protect Yourself from a Lawsuit?
You can avoid being sued by a caregiver. There are a few smart steps that you can take to protect your family before it gets to the point of a preferred homecare lawsuit.

1. Get Disability Insurance and Worker’s Compensation Coverage
Most homeowner and occupant insurance policies do not cover full-time domestic workers. Such employees need separate worker’s compensation cover. Not having the proper insurance is against the law. It means that you will not be protected in the case of a lawsuit. It also could mean that you will face enormous penalties for the period that the aide was employed that you did not have a cover.

2. Hire though an Agency
This will remove much of the obligation from your shoulders, but it does not get you off the hook entirety. You must the point of asking the agency you work with if the caregivers are their employees. You can even request the agency to provide you with the copies of the Certificate of Insurance for disability and worker’s compensation.

It is also possible for an in-home caregiver to sue for additional damages even when working under an agency. This is referred to as a third party claim. An aide can file a lawsuit if they can prove negligence by your family.

3. Maintain a record of any issues that arise
If you experience any issues with your hired caregiver, keep a record as they arose if things get contentious and you end up having to let them go, having a date and a note of each incident that took place puts you in a better position to protect yourself.

4. Meet with an Accountant
Hiring homecare givers also comes with particular tax obligations that differfrom one state to another. It can get confusing when it comes to classifying your hired caregiver, what to pay them and when to do it. An accountant will help you in this by making sure that you navigate your payment process and taxes properly.

5. Hire an Attorney
It is important that you find a lawyer that has worked with a domestic employment case before. You need to fully understand all the state laws concerningemployment of domestic workers so as to stay on the right side of them. The attorney will advise you the right steps to take to ensure that everything is as it should be when hiring these workers and how you should treat them.

6. Track the time Your Caregiver is Working
You must make sure that you know the number of hours they are working. Figure out a system that will track their time every day. It could be a simple time sheet that they sign off on or one of the time tracking apps on the market. This way, you can record the hours worked every day that both of you can access and agree on.

7. Pay Hourly
It is not advisable to pay a salary to prospective caregiver. If you choose to pay a salary, it might be tempting not to track the specific hours worked. If you pay a weekly salary and when it’s broken down and doesn’t fully satisfy the minimum pay and/or overtime requirements, you could find yourself in legal trouble. Additionally, paying a caregiver back the extra money you owe them could be stuck with double damages, attorney’s fees, and interest. Making it an hourly position is much safer.

Conclusion
When it comes to hiring a homecaregiver, you should be ready for anything to happen. There are times when you will be faced with preferred homecare lawsuit cases and you have to deal with them in the right way. It is always important that you have protective measures to deal with lawsuits that are filed by the care giver you hire.