All of Excel's employees are bonded and covered with appropriate workers compensation insurance. Employees are also covered under Excel's liability policy. This is because Excel Companion Care is an agency and not a registry. Some companies are registries and may offer lower prices by claiming the aides are independent contractors. Choosing a registry may mean you or your family could be responsible if a worker is injured in your home. The cost of an injury case could be staggering.
There are also tax issues. Registries may state the home health aide will be an independent contractor and pay their own taxes, but in many instances the aide will not meet the criteria as an independent contractor and therefore the tax responsibility falls back to the family.
Lastly, a licensed home care agency has a responsibility to provide ongoing supervision for their employees, registries do not. If the registries did provide supervision they would have to classify their workers as employees and pay appropriate taxes. Using a registry may sound good to save some money, but the financial consequences could be severe.
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