Employer Tips

Good employment experiences will increase the probability of good Direct Care workers remaining committed to their positions. The following tips have been recommended by seasoned Consumer-Employers for promoting positive Employer/Worker experiences:

• Decide which parts of your day are least and most flexible. Keep personal assistance tasks in the least flexible part of the day and move chores to the most flexible part of the day. Offer workers reasonable choices about the schedule for performing flexible tasks however emphasize the importance of their fulfilling your expectations when completing personal care (less flexible) routines.
• Develop a list outlining tasks that need performed and your "routine" expectations to review with worker candidates during the interview process.
• Spend the first week with a new employee training them about your routines.
• Provide a personal checklist of tasks workers can use when they are new or when fulfilling back-up duties to increase the probability that you will get consistent care.
• Develop a pre-interview checklist so you can pre-screen worker candidates and narrow worker choices. Ask about reliability during past work experiences, how long they have lived in the area and why they have an interest in Direct Care Work. If they sound evasive they will probably be this way in person. At the end of a prescreening interview tell worker candidates you will call back to schedule in-person interviews.
• Invite a minimum of two worker candidates for in-person interviews so you can select the best most qualified candidate based upon your needs.
• Hold in-person interviews at your home so both you and worker candidates can best verify a job match. Continue to emphasize the importance of reliability.
• Even if you need little care, have back-up workers identified whom you can call during any times your primary workers cannot be available.
• Talk about pay during interviews. Upon offering a job provide an employment contract which outlines such items as job tasks, schedule expectations, rate of pay, confirms first date of employment, time recording procedures and payment dates.
• Always verify references no matter how good a worker candidate appears. Pay particular attention to reliability. Do not offer employment until you are satisfied with both an interview and references.
• Offer praise to express appreciation for a job well done and on an on-going basis.
• Conduct regular evaluations so you can communicate jobs consistently well done and correct mistakes before they become bad habits.
• Consider using a notebook or a write-on/wipe-off board to make notes about things you wish to communicate to your Direct Care Worker. Encourage your workers to use this system to communicate with you.
• Encourage your support system to get to know your Direct Care Workers.
• Report fraud, abuse, or neglect to the police promptly and as needed ask for their presence when you terminate a worker for these types of infractions.
• When you have made an employment offer or terminated an employment arrangement please be sure to notify your fiscal agent so they can ensure the person is active or inactive in their payment system.
• Be sure to complete regular maintenance on necessary lift or medical equipment and provide a regular supply of gloves so these items are available to your workers. Identify back-up mechanical systems available for times when your equipment needs repaired.
• Let workers know you will "consider" their ideas however discourage workers from taking liberties which would not typically be appropriate in any other employment situation.
• In the unfortunate circumstance that you need to terminate a worker, generate documentation about the details associated with the termination for the Registry file, unemployment, and/or fiscal agent etc.
• Inform workers that it is your policy to require a minimum of one weeks notice to consider time-off requests. As circumstances allow inform workers they may submit for your approval requests to trade work days among one another to cover for times needed off so long as they provide a minimum of one weeks notice.