Safety Protocols Archives - Private Staff Group

Create an Employee Handbook for Your Private Staff

Whether you’re hiring for the estate or searching for someone to help you in your day to day, an employee manual or handbook gives your private staff a detailed overview of your rules, policies, guidelines, or procedures. Your goal should be to set the right expectations and, at the same time, state all your legal obligations to them. Note, that an employee manual is not the same thing as an employment contract.

Having an employee handbook helps to facilitate smoother onboarding, making it easy to welcome new staff members to the team. Furthermore, a set of guidelines also clearly outlines your expectations as an employer or staff manager, who may have several individuals under their purview.

In this article, we’ll discuss how to craft an employee manual for the team managing your personal and household affairs.

Values and Mission Statement

Your values and mission statement explains, in simple terms, your purpose for hiring your employees. And in the wake of a pandemic, making sure that you are 100% aligned with your existing and potential staff is critical. What are you trying to achieve, and how can your private staff help?

You need to effectively communicate these expectations with your staff to really get the right message across. Ensure that they know why you are hiring them and what your objectives are as an individual, an employer, and a homeowner.

A short paragraph defining your personal business and expectations would suffice as a brief character reference, offering some insight into who you are as an employer. Be as specific as you can and write it concisely, so your employees know what you are trying to convey to them.

Employee Compensations and Benefits

First and foremost, outline how your employees will be compensated, whether that’s a monthly wire or a weekly check. If you are offering other perks or incentives to your private staff, then this information should be clearly spelled out in your employee manual. You’ll want to include everything that covers employee benefits or rewards.

Clearly outline how much they are paid per hour and if they will be paid for overtime hours or when they work during holidays. Your private staff may also expect some benefits, so ensure that you outline this, in detail.

Benefits can include health insurance, parking spaces, sick leaves, 401k, dental benefits, meals, and beverages provided, lockers and personal storage areas, etc.

Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is a set of rules that tells your private staff how they should behave during work hours. You can include cellphone usage, dress code, smoking policy, etc.

For household rules, you can talk about who opens mails or accepts packages, how family members are addressed or contacted, rules of driving a family car, how guests are addressed and greeted, when to notify family members, or who to call for emergency issues.

For the code of conduct, your staff must understand it in its entirety. Be as detailed and as specific as possible.

Social Media and Digital Conduct

Digital conduct is a set of rules that pertains to an employee’s behavior online. You need to be specific with what is allowed and what is not when it comes to social media or other online-related activities.

Are your employees allowed to talk about their work on their social media channels? What about taking photos in your homes or with family members? Are they allowed to go online during work hours? Can your employees talk about your business?

You need to be very specific about this and ensure that your employees understand these home security guidelines.

Workplace Safety

In case of an emergency, who does your staff need to contact? Are there any allergies that you or your family members or guests have that your staff needs to be aware of? Are there any restricted areas in your home? These are just a few considerations that need to be met in your employee handbook.

While this all depends on what role your staff is filling, it’s still important to have it as a reference. Here, you’ll want to get in as much detail as possible, from dietary restrictions and medication regimens to safety procedures both in-person and online. Write about any guidelines or considerations you’ll need your staff to know.

You should also point out where the first aid kits are and the location of the fire extinguisher.

Duties, Work Hours, and Leave Policy

In your employee handbook, talk about the specific duties that your private staff is required to do. You may want to have a digital calendar shared with your staff members so that you’re always aligned.

How many hours are they required to work? What time should they take breaks, and how many minutes? Do they get paid on sick leaves? What about their vacation leaves – how many days are you giving them annually. If you’re not sure about the minimum wage or how many PTO do you need to offer to your private staff, you can always speak with a professional for assistance.

The goal is—your employees must understand, without question, their duties and responsibilities and what’s expected of them.

Termination

Outline the reasons why your employees may be terminated at work. You can write about a list of violations that may warrant a termination. Also, include a plan or checklist about what a certain employee would do if they are terminated. Do they need to return their uniforms or devices that were provided to them?

You need to also talk about their final wage when they are terminated. Will they be paid in full? What about deductions? Speak with a professional to ensure that you’re doing the right thing.

Conflicts of Interest

Depending on the nature of work, you may ask your private staff to sign a non-disclosure agreement and how to deal with them.

Writing the Handbook

When crafting your employee manual, make sure that you’re familiar with the applicable laws. For example, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, you are required to pay the minimum wage to all employees, including compensation for their overtime hours when they work for more than 40 hours a week. Your employees should be paid for every hour over 40. Also, you need to know whether your state’s employment laws require you to pay for breaks or meal times of your employees. Consult a professional when there are unusual work circumstances.

For your taxes, it would depend on the total amount of wages that you pay to a certain employee on an annual basis. You must check your state regulations to determine whether you need to withhold state income tax or settle for disability, unemployment or worker’s compensation insurance. Find out if you need to pay social security and Medicare taxes or pay federal unemployment tax. You can always use a payroll service to make this effortless for you.

Things to keep in mind:

Your employee manual should be readable, clear, simple, yet concise. It has to be accessible to everyone. If possible, hire someone who can discuss your employee manual, in detail, with the new hires.

Ask each employee to sign their handbook to ensure that they have fully read and understood them.

Contact Private Staff Group if You Need More Help

We are a recruitment agency committed to helping prominent individuals like yourself. Our team of experts specializes in sourcing strategy, hiring staff, staff onboarding, tax compliances, training staff, and even writing compelling job descriptions. Get in touch with us today!

Hiring Private or Household Staff in the Wake of a Pandemic

When news of COVID-19 spread and countries around the world entered lockdown it almost felt like everything stopped. People stopped going to the office, kids stopped going to school, and people put a halt to most of their plans around travel or being social.

The outside world may be at a standstill, but the inside world of your homes is busier and more vibrant than ever. Having household staff you can rely on is important at any time, but it’s especially important when we’re in a pandemic.

Remember, vaccine availability and lessening restrictions don’t mean that you’re safe from COVID. That’s why we’re here to give you the insight you need to find the right staff.

Are you thinking about hiring professional staff? Keep reading if you’re ready to learn how to bring on the right staff to manage your homes during these trying times.

Understand Who You Need

Before you start looking for new staff to bring on (or thinking about who to let go), consider what services are essential for your properties going forward.

You know that your chief of staff is indispensable, but could you do without your estate manager? You don’t think you need your butler at certain properties. However, you’re on the fence about how much you’ll be using your driver.

It’s possible that you may not need to have as many cooks on staff because you won’t be hosting large events, but you may still want to keep your head chef for more intimate affairs. Some people may have never considered having a private chef on the grounds, but now that catering could be dangerous, you may feel safer with having someone you can trust prepare your food.

Take time to look at what’s coming up on your personal calendar, and be sure to pay close attention to quarantine restrictions in your area. Having insight into both matters can make it easier to determine what you need.

Understand Your Comfort Levels

Do you only want to bring in staff that has received the COVID-19 vaccine? Would you be comfortable bringing in someone that has had COVID-19 in the past, but has since recovered? Do you want your staff to change into their uniforms on the premises or bathe then change to ensure they aren’t bringing in germs?

You’re the boss when it comes to your private staff, and now isn’t the time to be lax about setting boundaries. Take time to really think about what you and your family will need to stay safe and work with your staff effectively.

Some people feel safer making temperature checks mandatory before people can report to work. Others may consider setting up hand sanitizing and mask disinfecting stations in each room staff to ensure maximum safety.

Alter Your Interviewing Process

Hiring someone to attend to your personal properties and help you and your family isn’t a simple process. Extensive background checks need to be performed, multiple interviews need to be held, and you need to find a way to test their skills.

Unfortunately, COVID has made it difficult to perform some of your usual hiring activities. Luckily for you, there are plenty of ways to still properly screen people to add to your domestic staff.

Moving to a hybrid interview format can help save you time and help keep everyone safe. Consider holding some preliminary interviews over video calls instead of doing them by phone. When you add the camera element you can learn a lot about potential hires from their body language instead of having to go only by tone.

It’s only natural to want to have one in-person interview so you can test their skills and see how well they’d interact with you and the rest of the staff. We recommend trying to keep people as far apart as possible. Choose a very large room so people can meet comfortably, or consider setting up different areas to keep people separate.

You may find that there are some skill tests that you don’t need to be present for. It’s possible to closely inspect a potential laundress’s washing work and ironing skills once they’ve finished, and you can easily eat food prepared by a chef without being there to watch them prepare it. Consider having someone else supervise the tests and coming in after to inspect everything.

Consider Creating a Staff Bubble

You’ve heard a lot about the importance of social distancing and only being close to people that don’t have a lot of interactions in the outside world. That can be easy enough for the family, but things get tricky when it comes to private staff.

What happens if a staff member goes out over the weekend and brings COVID with them to work on Monday? Would you be comfortable having staff in your homes that are in group living situations or have to use public transit to get to work?

For the time being, you may want to consider only hiring people that are comfortable staying on the grounds while they work. You could come up with a schedule so that employees have plenty of time to quarantine before they come into work if you’re concerned about spreading the virus.

Find Household Staff the Safe Way

Instead of leaving the safety of your family and in the hands of others, consider working with a professional staffing service that can get you the help you need.

Working with a private staffing company is more important than ever now. We won’t just help you find professionals that can meet your rigorous standards for security and safety. We’ll help you find people that take COVID-19 as seriously as you do and keep your family’s well being top of mind.

Are you ready to find the help you need? Contact us today so we can start finding the best way to meet all of your private staffing needs.

How to Hire a Personal Assistant During COVID-19

Wealthy seniors and baby boomers are choosing a new type of Personal Assistant/Companion. This is in part due to Covid but also to enhance their active lifestyles. Today’s companions and personal assistants are selected by how well they fit a tailored job description.

In the past, private staffing companions may have been more involved in assisting those with health and mobility issues. Today’s companions and personal assistants are selected based on unique client needs. These needs may include:

Working and live-in in luxury remote communities such as: Nantucket, Aspen, Sun Valley, Caribbean islands, etc.
Special skills with dogs, grandchildren, cooking, sports and house management
Calendar, organization and business assistance
Training and certification: First aid, CPR, RN, rehabilitation
Household tasks: laundry, couture, entertaining, shopping
Driving, walking, hobby activities
Social companion to restaurants, travel and resorts
Wardrobe organization and styling
Supervising other domestic staff and residences

Personality factors are also an important part of household staff fit. Such personality factors include energy, background, flexibility, education and talents. These are a few considerations for the hiring selection process.

Hiring a companion/personal assistant during covid requires especially disciplined measures for client protections. This can lead clients to rely upon only one or two key staff members. Companion/PA jobs often have generous salaries to ensure longer term retention.

Screening and background checks are of utmost importance, and Private Staff Group takes these very seriously. Here are some of the measures we are taking to ensure your safety during covid and beyond:

Comprehensive background checks, including education and driving
Zoom interviews
90-Day Placement Guarantee
Privacy protection plan
Advisement on best safety practices and protocols

Review our private staff hiring protocols in detail here. For further information and a discussion of employing private staff safely, please call Stephen Candland at Private Staff Group 203-856-7811 or email: stephen@privatestaffgroup.com.

Safety Protocols for Private Staff Entering Your Home

As seen in

How are high net worth (HNW) private staff employers getting the personal and household services needed and keeping themselves safe?

Employing private staff services for your home and personal needs can be effective if proper observations, safety measures, and new techniques are part of the mix of management and employment practices, in addition to mutual respect. Accommodating transitions, changing situations such as travel, staying abreast of new Covid information, and being kind and caring to your staff enhances the safety results and experience for all.

If you are relocating to another residence, you have the decision to either bring staff with you or hire locally.

Practical safety includes:

Live in vs. Live out
Agreement on procedures with disinfectants
Changing of clothing when entering and leaving home
Select rooms where work is allowed
New staff quarantine for two weeks before starting work
Establish protocols for individuals entering your home

Interviewing new private staff candidates:

Engage private staff recruitment companies to select best fit candidates
Interviews through video calls- Zoom, Facetime, etc.
Questions: how long have you been symptom-free? Have you already had Covid-19? Have you tested positive for the antibodies?
If there is an option for Live-in, discuss the arrangements and safeguards
Discuss extra duties during the time of virus lock downs
How will your staff service needs change post-Covid?

Whether you are hunkered in your bunker, at the beach in the Hamptons, or staying in your main home in Greenwich, thinking through your options, researching best safe practices and extending your plans and rules to your household and personal staff will result in a healthy and happy exit from this time of invisible risks.

For further information and a discussion of employing private staff safely, please call Stephen Candland at Private Staff Group 203-856-7811 or email: stephen@privatestaffgroup.com.

For more information about New York’s Covid-19 recommendations for domestic employers, please click here.

Safer at Home – Limiting Risks from Domestic Workers

Protections and services from your household and personal staff

Best practices for virus safety in managing your household and personal staff

Hiring right, receiving productivity and ensuring your protection, health and privacy. Remember, safe measures need to be for both sides – you and your service team.

Interview with Stephen Candland, Partner of Private Staff Group.

Private Staff Group (“PSG”) is a boutique and specialized recruitment search firm serving the distinct staffing needs of exceptional clients for their household, estate, personal and business.

PSG clients typically have multiple homes, large homes, dynamic lifestyles and high expectations for service excellence. Continuation of safe domestic services is possible with proper and custom steps and attention to protections for both the family and the staff.

What are you seeing in safe practices in continuing to use household staff?

Hygiene can include changing of clothes before entering the home. For example, fresh laundered uniform clothing to change into for the domestic worker. Simple black pants/white shirt, etc. Wearing disposable gloves and face-mask is recommended.

Is Live-in an option?

Upscale doormen buildings are reluctant to let in outside domestic workers to the building. Often the workers traveled to the building via subway, etc. If you have a separate quarters or bedroom, could you accommodate a live-in situation. Vacation or second homes, sometimes have guest quarters, pool house, etc. Keeping your staff in your home and on property protects all. Everyone can share supplies, food and work together in a clean environment.

Clients have rented separate apartments or residences for staff quarters.

If I am not comfortable with current staff in my home?

Clients are placing staff on leave of absence (furlough)- typically with full or partial salary. Clients may decide to eliminate any and all outside persons, including vendors from entering the home during this time

How to handle help for relocations to vacation homes, yachts, etc.?

PSG clients have relocated to homes as far away as New Zealand. Most are taking private jets to second homes as an extra precaution. Extensive sanitary cleaning of jets, homes, cars, etc. is critical to peace of mind. We have seen clients send staff ahead to conduct cleaning, and then quarantine themselves (staff) for a couple weeks before joining the client in the home.

Chefs have been taken to second residences as they can handle all the kitchen, shopping, cooking, etc. with confidence as the chef is required to wear proper PPE outside and inside the home, thus reducing exposure risk for principals.

How can Private Staff Group be helpful to my needs?

We have partnered with clients to hire assistants who work virtually. We have recommended exceptional service staff who are willing to Live-in, travel to remote home locations, and be of multi-service such as cook, housekeeper, server, family assistant, etc. PSG finds the best candidates who are prepared to clean properly, be pleasant in the home and a trusted partner to keeping you as safe as possible and enabling a pleasant household environment.

We have wonderful candidates available for short interim situations. PSG and the client often work together to design and implement the right cleaning, orientation and training. Background checks and payroll are offered too.

Let’s work together to get you the hygiene and preventative measures which can be enhanced by your domestic staff. Help in the home can be completely safe and add to the enjoyment and manageability of this confined period.

View Article Here

What to Look for When Conducting Background Checks for a Private Staff Employee

When you are looking to hire a domestic employee, you need to be able to trust them. Depending on their job, they will have access to valuable things such as personal assets or money. Because of this, it is a necessary precaution to conduct a thorough background check on candidates. Whether it is a criminal record or a driving infraction, you should know what a candidate has done in the past and if this will affect their work.

Of course, a criminal check is the first thing to consider. Anything that comes up in a criminal check should be taken seriously. Any record of violence, theft, substance abuse, etc. should be thoughtfully considered. An applicant who has been background checked should have signed a release, making it reasonable for you to reach out to them and discuss anything you find.

In addition to this, if the candidate will have access to cash and credit cards, it is important to run a credit check on them. Note their creditors and assess the difference between a candidate who went through a financial hardship in their life and fell behind compared to someone who has erratic spending habits and is clearly living outside of their means. Allow the candidate to explain their situation, what steps they have taken to correct any issues, and their plans for next steps.

A bad driving record is also something to consider. If the candidate will be driving you or your family regularly, such as a chauffeur or nanny, any blemish on their driving record can indicate carelessness and could be putting the lives of you and your family in danger. There is a difference between running a red light after maintaining a clean record for 10 years and a consistent pattern of bad behavior: when in doubt, always trust your gut. It is never a bad idea to speak with the candidate about any issues you see and see how they react or explain themselves.

Another area to consider is employment and education verifications. Major differences in these can be an extremely negative sign. A falsified background means not only is this candidate potentially unable to perform the duties set forth in the position but can indicate some bad qualities about their personality and morals in general.

Particularly in domestic situations, security is paramount and if anything seems untrustworthy, it should not go without discussing openly with your applicant. You should discuss any discrepancies you find during your background check with your candidate. There are situations where the candidate may be able to explain themselves, however, if you do not have a good feeling about something you find, it is best just to find another candidate who will make you feel at ease.

About Private Staff Group

There are important pre and post-employment considerations when hiring private staff such as nannies, personal assistants, estate/household managers, housekeepers, etc. Private Staff Group performs exhaustive profiling assessments on all candidates, sharing results, references and background checks. To learn more about our process we invite you to contact us today.

Hire a Domestic Couple: Traditional vs. Nontraditional

Hiring a domestic couple is a great option if you are looking for a team of two individuals to work together. Occasionally, you may be presented with a unique option in which a “couple” does not have a connection other than their professional background. In other words, they may present themselves as a couple and have willingness to work as one but not actually be a couple by definition – a nontraditional domestic couple.

Typically, a nontraditional couple is two people who have worked or lived closely with each other in the past, know they work very well together as a team, but are not actually life partners. When comparing a nontraditional domestic couple with a traditional one, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Depending on your specific needs, you should consider what kind of couple would help you the most.

Benefits of a Traditional Domestic Couple:

A united team working towards a common goal
The ability to share living space
Having a shared past, experience problem solving, brainstorming, etc.
An understanding of how each other works – they can hit the ground running

Potential Challenges with a Traditional Domestic Couple:

If you need to let go of one employee, you may have to let go of both as they come as a team. (Sometimes, while they may both be talented candidates, their strengths and weaknesses don’t balance out to meet your needs. For example, they are both good cooks but neither of them are particularly skilled at working with children.)
Couples usually would like to take their vacation time together

Benefits of a Nontraditional Domestic Couple:

Are flexible to take separate vacation days
Are flexible to be separated if needed
Can work more independently of each other
Different backgrounds and sets of ideals may lead to more creative problem solving

Potential Challenges with a Nontraditional Domestic Couple:

May require more living space
May not have had too much experience in a similar position working very closely together

Every situation is unique and therefore requires its own distinct set of expectations as well as limitations. What can work in one situation may not work in another so it is best to take everything into consideration when deciding what kind of couple you would benefit from hiring.

About Private Staff Group

At Private Staff Group our technologies, our recruitment team and our candidate networks are second to none when it comes to finding the personal, private, and domestic professionals you can count on. If you want to hire a domestic couple, we can pair you with the right candidates. To learn more about what we can do we invite you to contact us today.

The Importance of Employment Contracts When Hiring Domestic Staff

When hiring a new employee, whether a personal chef, personal assistant, nanny or any other household staff, an employment contract is a great opportunity for you and the new hire to go over all the details of the role.

Important Aspects to Include in Your Domestic Staff Contracts

Employee title
Employee duties and responsibilities
Compensation & Payrolling
Benefits
Hours
Vacation, personal and sick days as well as disability, maternity, bereavement and other absences
Confidentiality: proprietary information
Rules and Regulations
Disciplinary/Termination procedures
Notice periods

Discussing these will help both you and your new employee to understand the expectations you have for each other. Presenting a new household employee with a contract and allowing them time to review and ask questions is a great way to make sure everyone understands the job and is in agreement from the start.

While a contract provides accountability, as you and your employee are now held legally responsible for maintaining the standards set forth in the contract, you should also keep in mind that there is a lack of flexibility as well. A contract locks you into terms you may want to alter later, which means engaging in new negotiations that could potentially end not mutually beneficial. Sometimes, it is best to have a different contract made for each domestic staff role tailored specifically to them, in order to ensure the contract is as fair as possible.

About Private Staff Group

There are important pre and post-employment considerations when hiring private staff. Once staff is onboard, an employer needs to ensure proper IRS and state and local employment compliance and payroll tax obligations. Private Staff Group offers employment solutions to handle these important staffing requirements. For more information on our staffing solutions, contact us today.

NDAs for Decorators of Affluent Homes

These days—especially when it comes to high-end residential projects—non-disclosure agreements are, as interior designer David Scott puts it, “as commonplace as Ubers and Starbucks.” So much so, in fact, that several architects and designers asked by T&C to comment on the increasing ubiquity of decorator NDAs wouldn’t comment—or, in one case, would only do so anonymously. Some did, however, speak on the record, and they have some constructive advice for the extremely private.

No Dogs Allowed

Scott was once asked to sign an NDA that extended to the clients’ pets. That’s a no-go. You should limit demands to the classics, says acclaimed French architect and interior designer Robert Couturier: “You won’t divulge who you’re working for, how much money they spend, or where they live. Often you have to have all your subcontractors sign one as well.”

Manage Your Ego

“NDAs make sense when it’s a matter of security, when a family could be threatened,” Couturier says. “It’s incredibly irritating, though, when it’s for a society woman who posts photos of herself waking up in the morning and thrives on notoriety.”

Beware of Social Media

“For one client,” Couturier says, “I had to go through my Instagram account and erase pictures that I had taken of the construction site. He had flipped through thousands of posts trying to find those of his job site. That must have taken him hours. I think people have an incredibly inflated opinion of themselves.”

Call It The Michael Cohen Statue

One architect who asked to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize high-profile projects pleads with clients not to get him involved with law enforcement. “Sometimes,” the architect says, “NDAs ask for restrictions on disclosing information that seem as if they were written by someone trying to hide something from Robert Mueller!”

Leave No Paper Trail

“Many NDAs have archaic language from the days of paper files that doesn’t seem relevant any longer, such as a commitment to destroy all copies if asked,” says the anonymous architect. “This is nearly impossible in a digitally backed-up era.”

Trust Matters

Some NDAs are too demanding. Adjust accordingly. “When documents become so one-sided that they tip away from reasonable restrictions,” says the architect, “you really start to wonder about the intent of the person on the other side.”

Couturier asks, “If a client doesn’t trust his or her designer to protect him, what’s the point of working together?”

Attribution: Town and Country Magazine- April 2019

Care.com Puts Onus on Families to Check Caregivers’ Backgrounds – With Sometimes Tragic Outcomes

On a warm July morning last year, Amelia Wieand left her twin toddlers at an in-home day-care center outside Knoxville, Tenn. She had read about the facility on Care.com, the largest online marketplace for babysitters and other caregivers.

The listing said the center was state-licensed. It wasn’t, state records say. In fact, after receiving reports that the woman who ran it was watching up to 11 children, a state agency had obtained an injunction two months earlier barring her from operating an unlicensed facility.

None of that was available to Care.com members such as Ms. Wieand. At one point, the day-care center indicated to clients there was a problem with its license, but assured Ms. Weiand and other parents it was taking care of the matter.

Hours after being dropped off, the children, Elyssa and Elijah, a month away from their second birthdays, were pulled out of the baby sitter’s pool. Both died.

Care.com Inc., with about 32 million members in over 20 countries, charges up to $39 a month to see listings on its site. Shares of the Waltham, Mass.-based company have quadrupled in three years as revenue has surged. Its biggest stockholder is Capital G, a fund backed by Alphabet Inc.Behind Care.com’s appeal is a pledge to “help families make informed hiring decisions” about caregivers, as it has said on its website.

Still, Care.com largely leaves it to families to figure out whether the caregivers it lists are trustworthy. It does what it calls “preliminary screening” of them, which isn’t a full background check, and doesn’t verify credentials. It does no vetting of day-care centers listed on its site.

Care.com suggests that customers purchase additional screening packages, which cost $59 to $300.

In about 9 instances over the past six years, caregivers in the U.S. who had police records were listed on Care.com and later were accused of committing crimes while caring for customers’ children or elderly relatives, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed police records, court records and local media reports. Alleged crimes included theft, child abuse, sexual assault and murder.

The Journal also found hundreds of instances in which day-care centers listed on Care.com as state-licensed didn’t appear to be. Care.com said it has made more than 1.5 million successful matches since it began service a dozen years ago.

Sheila Lirio Marcelo, chief executive, chairwoman and founder, said the company invests heavily in ensuring the safety of members. She said the marketplace is designed for “shared responsibility overall,” with families having the option to pay for more screening.

“Care.com is a marketplace platform, like Indeed or LinkedIn,” Ms. Marcelo said. “Like those services, we do not generally verify the information posted by users, interview users or conduct employment-level background checks.”

The company said it sends many messages during the membership application process—through its website, emails and other alerts—stating that it doesn’t fully screen caregivers and that parents are responsible for background checks.

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