1.) Is a certain amount/ percentage of salary considered as 'room & board'?
What is the minimum & maximum that can be deducted from cash payment (monthly pay) as 'room and board'? (If client figures $900. month salary which includes room & board, what should the cash payment be?)
1.) How does the caregiver claim 'room & board" when filling out paperwork such as for tax purposes or other important papers?
2.) Is the caregiver responsible for their own health & auto insurance, prescriptions, auto maintenance & gas, clothes, vacations, etc?
3.)If the 'family goes out to dinner, on a trip, or to an event (I.E. movies, concerts, fairs, amusement parks, sight seeing), is the caregiver responsible for 'paying their own way'?
4.) Can a caregiver get financial assistance if the client is on a limited income & cannot afford to pay much?
5.)
I almost hate to ask, are you being paid 900 a month as a live in? If your friend requires 24/7 care, even if it only occasionally, then caregiver is required 24 hours a day. Nightime assistance cannot be scheduled or put on a calendar. You should not have a deduction for room and board. There are some families that will even try that with other family caregivers. An agency live in would cost much more in the area of 10k a month. And even agency live ins are able to be in their own homes on weekends. For 24/7 care with a team of three people that do 8 hour shifts, to avoid overtime charges, the charge is about 12k a month.
It sounds as if you are being taken advantage of. Fixed income is a limitation to how much can be paid if there are no other assets. If that is the case I would find a regular 40 hour a week job. Your friend should be in a Medicaid nursing home. And hopefully you have a care agreement in place otherwise Medicaid would try to charge friend a penalty equal to what you have been paid.
Your third question is a bit puzzling. Why would you go to these family functions? In my case, I would more than welcome the quiet me time! And vacations? If the caregiver is required your expenses should be paid as well as being paid salary to attend. Health insurance, etc? If not paid by your employer, you should be making enough to pay for these things yourself. If you use your car for transporting the one you care for you should be submitting mileage report to receisve reimbursement. At this time I think the federal goverment allows 55 cents a mile which adds up fast!
Financial assistance for caregiver, you would need to apply for Medicaid, welfare etc. There are some programs that will pay a caregiver like VA Aid and Attendance but payment is minimal, 1.2 K a month, but if care receiver is the applicant and may not be eligible. Call the Area Agency on Aging, many times in the Council of Governments, they are a wonderful resource with lots of information to share.
I've definitely realized that being a live-in caregiver and getting paid correctly isn't as as easy or simple as some may think.
I'll break this down so as not to get too long or tiresome.
To begin with, I've known the family most of my life. The 'patient's' son and I were close friends and I considered his parents as a 3rd set of grandparents (even though the son & I are close in age). My friend and I drifted apart for many years but reconnected a few years ago. (Let's call my friend Joe.)
Awhile back, "Joe" & I were talking about living situations. "Joe" is disabled, receives disability, cannot work, and tries to care for his 85 yr old disabled (veteran) father. "Joe"'s wife helps as best she can but she holds a full time job (55-70 hrs per week). "Joe'"s Dad can do some things on his own, uses a walker and power chair. He lives on his own next door and there is a connecting deck & ramp to each other's homes. A housekeeper would come in once a week to clean and do laundry but "Joe" got concerned when Dad tried to do things on his own when no one was around. He couldn't be available every second for Dad or there overnite. SO, since I was a widowed homemaker (with no opportunities towards employment), and looking for a change; "Joe" asked if I'd help him. I moved out of my home state, moved into my own room at Dad's, and have been frustrated almost since.
I'm not sure who the client actually is or what the 'rules" are since they seem to change and contradict each other regularly. "Joe" asked me to help with Dad and says he can fire me at any time but Dad pays me, I reside in Dad's house, and he provides the food and amenities. "Joe" and Dad don't seem to agree on what MY responsibilities are, when MY time off is (so far none), and what I should get paid.
No formal contract or agreement was signed. We (Joe's Dad & I) signed a paper which states that "light housekeeping", laundry, and "assisting" Dad are the job duties. I am required to make sure he takes his morning & evening meds, he does daily exercises (20 - 30 minutes) so as joints and muscles won't stiffen, and make sure HE keeps himself clean (and fresh). This entails him to take regular showers, underpants (Depends) and clothes changed frequently/daily, hair combed, and false teeth worn). Dad does some of this if and when he feels like it but sometimes whines when I tell him that this is his responsibility. I am not to bathe him, change underwear, dress, or spoon feed him. I was also told that Dad is supposed to get his own drinks and meals as much and whenever possible.
Than this was thrown in there..."Unless he nicely asks for assistance".
To be continued...
In the 2015 Cost of Care Survey conducted by Genworth Financial, home care costs showed an increase of 1.27% compared to the 2015 costs and the national median monthly rate is $20 per hour.
Hourly Rates: Home care costs are most commonly assessed at an hourly rate, particularly for clients who remain independent in the majority of their activities of daily living but would benefit from companionship and/or limited assistance. In almost all cases, home care agencies establish a minimum number of hours per day such as two or four hours for staffing purposes.
Daily Rates: This method of billing is used when a client requires around-the-clock assistance and/or supervision. Instead of charging an hourly rate, home care agencies determine a daily rate that remains equitable given the fact that breaks and sleep are required for the caregiver. Home care costs based on a daily rate typically range from $200.00 per day to $350.00 per day, once again depending upon the cost of living within a particular region.
Overnight Rates: Overnight rates are also offered by home care agencies to ensure safety and security of clients who may get up frequently during the night or wander due to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. This option is particularly helpful to family caregivers and/or couples when one spouse acts as the primary caregiver and desperately needs to sleep well during the night. Rates for overnight care range from $120.00 to $200.00 and typically consist of a 10 to 12 hour caregiver shift.
So my charging them $75.00/overnight, they are already saving a bundle.
Your questions seem to present a more complicated situation that will as others have said require legal/tax advice. As we found out it can be quite complicated getting everything set up and I would say virtually impossible to do it without professional advice. Paying for a caregiver isn't cheap but as the CPA told us "we all have to pay to live". It's a hard cold fact that is hard to accept when you are doing the caregiving for a family member, but it is true none the less.
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