Making sure new caregivers are ready to go on their first day of work can be hard. The amount of paperwork they have to fill out and the agency practices they have to learn can be overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. That’s why we’ve put together a list of items every agency should complete to prepare caregivers for their first shift.
Employee Information Form
Make sure new caregivers complete a document that includes the following:
- First and last name
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Current home address
- Social Security number, EIN, or alternative work authorization number
- Emergency contact’s name
- Emergency contact’s phone number
- Emergency contact’s email address
This is necessary for their employee records, to ensure electronic visit verification is possible, and to pay them for hours they’ve worked.
Work Experience Form
Collect all the caregiver’s work history that is relevant to the job you’ve hired them to do, the contact information for their references, so you can reach out to learn more about their character, and have them complete a simple survey with questions that are relevant to the job they’re being hired to do.
For example:
- “What service tasks do you find easiest to do?”
- “If a visit starts at 10:00 AM, when should you arrive at the visit location?”
- “What should you do if a client falls during a visit?”
Agency Pop Quiz
Create a short packet with information about your agency that includes details like when it was founded, who the founder is, and why they started the agency. You can also ask about the agency’s goals and what it means to be a good caregiver.
Create a few questions for the caregiver to answer at the end of this packet that quiz them on the information and help prepare caregivers by showing how much they understand about the agency’s culture and where additional education may be needed.
Employee Bank Information
If a caregiver wishes to set up direct deposit so their paycheck is deposited into their bank account each pay cycle, they need to provide their bank name, account number, and routing number.
If your agency does not have direct deposit set up, make sure to consider this! We recommend using any of these providers to set up direct deposit. It usually starts around $60 a month for 5 caregivers, but prices may vary.
Schedule Availability
To avoid missed or late visits, new caregivers need to confirm the days and hours they’re available to work, so agency administrators can compare their availability with the client’s and schedule the first visit at a time that works for both.
Having a software like GEOH that offers a feature for admins to do this for multiple visits at once can make scheduling much easier, and help administrators get time back in the day to focus on actually growing the agency. GEOH makes it easy to prepare caregivers with confidence before their first day.
So, if this software is something you’re interested in, chat with Aaron, our GEOH team player at the link below, and see how GEOH can help make your agency’s operation easier today:
