As a live in caregiver, am I being paid enough?
Your pay should be $500 a week. Many people make more than $500. But, $500.00 sounds reasonable if it inclucdes room and board. One way to look at it is this. Find out how much it costs for assisted livng or adult foster care or even nursing home care. Then figure how many hours you work or are available to work. If you work 12 hours a day and are on call the other 12 for 20 days a month.I would figure that at $3880.(I am figuring $12.00 and hour plus $1000 for on call) Then subtract $700 for you room and board.So your salary should be $3100. See how that compares to institutional living for him. You might want a raise to $2000. Then in another year work toward $3000 and so on. When you negotiate be senstive to his illness. Be kind. Be firm and trust that you can care for him.Be sure to dress well,and be meticulous in your care and compassion.In the future when you look for another job, you will be priceless.
I am new to the "caring" site and would like to extend a heartfelt thank you Ann Cason for your thoughtful replie[s] here and elsewhere on this site. I have learned allot from your responses and gained the clarity of focus I was seeking. I feel better equipped to avoid any pitfalls that might lay ahead for me.
I think this is way out of line. Most elderly folks who only get social security could never pay those costs. How can you possibly compare in-home care to the care one would receive in a licensed nursing home? Many times these care givers are illegal aliens who are lucky to be in this country and lucky to have a job. Just because they are "on duty" for 12 hours doesn't mean they are doing non-stop work during those 12 hours. There is a lot of down time and plenty of time for them to take care of their own wants and needs. Just what do you think the elderly people who are only receiving social security are supposed to do? Many of them don't receive $2000 a month! I guess it is better to die before you get that old because there won't be any way to pay for care. Unbelievable.
I have a live in personal valet, he is my adopted son/wife, his 6 children, I provide housing for all. He is somewhat on duty 24/7/365, he attends to all of my personal needs, serves my meals and cleans my quarters. I pay $65.00 a day, the same be it him or some outsider. His total time with me totals maybe 5 hours out of the 24.
As a Healthcare Aide (Licensed) living in Ontario, I'm not sure where you are. You cant' possibly go by an hourly rate because of your time spent in this persons' home. However, your living in his home for some exchange for care. So lets say if you had to rent somewhere you would probably be looking at lets say $600.00 per mth. On an hourly basis and this means tending to him, not just sitting around, your hourly rate would be roughly $12.00 per hr. Does he have a vehicle? Is this vehicle for you to use as well as taking him out to say Dr. groceries etc. If you had to rent a vehicle again would be around 250.00 per mth. So already he has paid you $850.00 plus groceries. If you had to buy your own at your own place you would likely spend lets just say $75.00 per wk. So thats $300.00 a mth. Already you have received $1,150.00 You have to look at what you would work at elsewhere, would you have a vehicle, would you have to pay utilities etc. I'm not trying to say that you dont' need a raise however when asking, and be civil about it I'm sure that he would agree. Keep in mind that you are not licensed. Private care working for an Agency you would receive $11.00 pr.hr. Regular car is roughly 12.50 pr.hr. You would have to weigh the pros' and cons', as well as think of what you yourself would have to pay for if on your own. Hope this helps.
This is one of the most common source of conflict between a private caregiver and their patients or employers. Many of these caregivers start working without knowing how much will they get, and do not know if they are going to get a salary increase or not. I suspect that you might be a foreign worker that is why you bite to the price you have now. Anyway next time be sure that you follow the advises they gave here. Do not listen to some people who does not understand the challenge of real caregiving who will say caregivers are not doing enough to deserve a high pay - especially if you are a foreign worker(Their reason, you only get about $200 dlrs/mo from where you came from)
Well, as you said, you aren't licensed, so regardless of experience, that unfortunately counts against you. In my area (Florida), most people HAVE to be a CNA, at the very least. We have a glut of CNAs so the salary is not great. You also mentioned you were in Sylva, which is not exactly L.A. I am also in a rural area, and people make from $8.00 to 10.00 an hour. A hospital pays about the same to a licensed CNA, and the nursing homes are much worse. You are also getting room, board AND groceries? Use of a car? That's worth over a grand, anywhere. Quite frankly, after I pay my bills, YOU have a lot more money at the end of the month than I do. He isn't total care, so you're not changing a bedridden person twelve times a day, either. How many times a night does he actually call you for help? HOWEVER, realistically (sorry to Ann Cason), since you probably can't do much salary negotiation in your area, I do feel you need to set some ground rules about your personal time. You're in a beautiful recreational area, and need some rejuvenation time to save your sanity. I would suggest standing your ground about some free time. You won't last in that job too long if you don't. Good luck to you.
