Caregiver terms

The agreement between you and Backstop Care, Inc. when you accept jobs through the platform. Written to be readable — if anything here is unclear, ask before you accept a job, not after.

Last updated: placeholder — set on publication. Status: draft pending counsel review.

Your relationship with us

Placeholder pending counsel. Whether you are engaged as a W-2 employee, an independent contractor, or through a partner agency depends on your market. We will tell you which applies to you in writing before you complete onboarding, together with what it means for taxes, workers' compensation and benefits. This section will state it explicitly once the classification decision is papered per market.

Getting activated

You cannot receive job offers until every one of these is complete:

• Government photo ID and a liveness check
• Criminal background check and motor vehicle record, through Checkr
• Two professional references, contacted by us
• Credentials required for the care types you select — CPR and paediatric first aid for children; CPR and, where the state requires it, CNA or HHA for adults
• Health screening where the state requires it
• A structured video interview
• Platform training: scope of care, mandatory reporting, emergency procedures, infection control, and dementia basics or safe sleep depending on your track
• Work authorisation documents
• Payout setup

There is no route to activation that skips any of these.

Staying active

• Your background check is re-run every 12 months. If it lapses, your account is paused automatically until it clears. This is not a judgement about you.
• Credentials must stay current. You'll get warnings at 30, 14 and 1 days before expiry, then an automatic pause.
• A rating below 3, a high-severity incident, or two no-shows in 90 days triggers a review and a pause pending its outcome.

Scope of care — hard limits

You may not, even if a family asks you to:

• Administer, dispense or inject medication. Reminders only.
• Perform wound care, catheter care or ostomy care.
• Perform any transfer requiring a lift device.
• Drive a care recipient anywhere, in any vehicle.
• Care for children from more than one family at the same time in a home.

If a family asks for any of these, decline and report it in the app. You will never be penalised for declining something outside scope — that is the entire point of the boundary existing.

Conduct

No smoking, alcohol or drug use on a job. No personal guests. No photography except through the app's care-note feature. No posting about a family on social media. No sharing a family's address or details with anyone.

Mandatory reporting

You are a mandatory reporter for child abuse and neglect and, in most states, elder abuse. This is covered in your training and you sign an acknowledgment we retain. If you suspect harm, report it — through the app, and to the authorities where the law requires it. We will support you in doing so.

Accepting and declining jobs

You choose which jobs you take. Declining does not affect your rate, your standing, or the number of offers you receive. There is no schedule you are required to hold.

Offers are first-accept-wins, so they move quickly. Before you accept you see the care type, neighbourhood, hours and exact pay — but not the family's address, surname or phone number. Those appear once the booking is yours.

Pay

• Hourly at the rate shown on the offer, with a four-hour minimum on every job.
• Paid weekly to your bank account via Stripe.
• If a family cancels within 12 hours of the start, or nobody is home when you arrive, you are paid a cancellation guarantee.
• Same-day and holiday work carries a higher rate.

We do not take a percentage off the rate you were shown. The number on the offer is the number you're paid.

Clocking in and out

Clock in through the app at the care address, within 250 metres and inside the booked window. If you have not clocked in ten minutes past the start time, we begin sourcing a replacement and contact you — because a family waiting with no information is the worst outcome in this business.

Clock out and file a care note at the end. The note is what the family reads and what we rely on if anything is ever questioned.

If something goes wrong

Use the report button. It is always visible. A coordinator responds immediately for anything serious.

If an allegation of harm is made, your account is paused while we investigate. That is not a finding against you — it is what we owe the family and what any insurer requires. You will be told what is alleged and given the chance to respond.

Off-platform work

Arranging work privately with a family you met here is prohibited under these terms. More practically: our insurance does not cover it, the cancellation guarantee does not apply, and you have no recourse if you are not paid.

Insurance

General and professional liability cover applies to every booking made through the platform.

Ending the relationship

You may stop accepting jobs at any time, with no notice and no penalty. We may deactivate an account for a breach of these terms, a failed vetting gate, or an incident finding — with the reason given in writing.

Contact

hello@backstopcare.com