Caretaker contract: what to put in writing

Most care arrangements in India begin with a handshake and a monthly amount agreed over tea. Three months later the same families are arguing about a Sunday off, about whether the phone should be used during duty hours, and about who was supposed to buy the vegetables. A written agreement does not signal distrust — it is the thing that lets trust survive the first misunderstanding.

One page is enough. Sign it, date it, keep a copy each, and revisit it when the arrangement changes.

The clauses that matter

1. The two parties. Full name, address and government ID details of the caretaker, the name of the family member responsible for the household, and the address where the work happens. Attach a photocopy of the ID with the date and the purpose written on it, and hand a copy back.

2. Start date, trial and duration. State the start date, a trial period of one to two weeks with the pass-or-exit criteria written down, and what happens at the end of it. A trial with no written criteria becomes an argument.

3. Hours, days off and handover. For a day shift: start and end time, and the handover moment. For a live-in: duty hours, sleep hours, the room or sleeping space provided, and how often night waking is expected. Name the weekly off day and who covers it.

4. Scope of work — the in list. Bathing, dressing, toilet help, mobility, meals, walks, medicine reminders for what has already been prescribed, companionship, accompanying to appointments. Be concrete; a vague scope is a scope that expands silently.

5. Scope — the out list. No injections, drips, wound dressings or any clinical task unless a qualified nurse is doing it. No deciding, skipping or adjusting medicines. No ATM cards, PINs or passwords. No accepting delivery of cash or jewellery for the family. No posting photographs of the household on social media. This list protects your parent and protects the caretaker from accusations later.

6. Money. The monthly amount, broken into salary and any other component; what you provide in addition (food, room, electricity, phone recharge, travel); the fixed payment date; the mode — a bank transfer to the caretaker’s own account leaves a record on both sides; and a receipt or acknowledgement every month. If an agency fee sits alongside the salary, show the two figures separately.

7. Leave. Weekly off, festival travel home with dates agreed before the festival season, sick leave, and what relief is arranged when the caretaker is unwell. One person cannot give continuous care without a break; writing the break in keeps the arrangement from collapsing during the first fever.

8. Notice and replacement. Notice period from either side — commonly seven to thirty days, whatever you agree — and, where an agency is involved, how many days it takes to send a replacement and how many attempts you are entitled to before a refund. The replacement guide sets out those numbers.

9. Conduct and confidentiality. Visitors and phone use during duty hours, keys and household access, alcohol or smoking on the premises, and the fact that what happens in the home stays in the home. State these without accusatory language — they read very differently when written as mutual rules.

10. Emergencies and injury. Whom to call first, the neighbour and building watchman’s numbers, the treating doctor’s after-hours number, and an honest line about what is and is not covered if anyone is injured inside the home. Silence here is not neutrality; it is an unwritten assumption.

11. One point of contact. Name the single family member who gives instructions, raises problems and makes payments. Four relatives issuing four instructions is the most common reason good caregivers leave.

12. Signatures and copies. Both sign and date every page or the final page, each keeps an original, and the agreement is written in a language the caretaker reads comfortably.

How to have the conversation kindly

Read it aloud together before anyone signs. Ask, plainly, which clause they disagree with — you want the objection now, not on day twenty. Explain that the out-of-scope list is about safety and legal exposure, not about their character. Give them the copy the same day, and start the payment record from the first month.

If money or property beyond routine care is involved, or if the arrangement is unusually complex, spend an hour with a local lawyer. This page is a practical template, not legal advice.

A contract is the floor, not the ceiling

Writing still does not answer the questions that keep families awake: is this person who they say they are, and have they done this work before? Those answers come from ID and reference checks and from the hiring checklist, which you can walk through before the first day. The agreement then simply records what everyone has already verified and agreed. When your task list is clear enough to turn into clauses, start with the matcher.