By Araceli Gaona and Fran Kiernan
April 2015 | 2015 Spring Newsletter
The In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) consumer is the employer of the Independent Provider (IP) for the purpose of hiring, firing, and supervising the work. With IHSS, the consumer’s home is the work place. Providing a safe and healthy work place is key to a successful and happy work relationship. The following are tips and friendly reminders to help with this:
- Providing a safe and healthy work place starts with the right tools. IHSS consumers are responsible for providing the cleaning supplies to the IP for domestic services, such as a broom, mop, and cleaning agents. Consumers should also provide gloves to the IP for personal care services.
- Consumers should ask IPs to do only the authorized IHSS services. If you are not sure what services you are authorized for, please review your Notice of Action (NOA) provided to you by IHSS. If the IP is injured while doing an unauthorized service, the IP may not be eligible for Worker’s Compensation and the consumer may be held liable.
- IHSS tasks need to stay within the scope of services and within reason. Asking an IP to get on their hands and knees to wash floors is not within reason and could create an uncomfortable situation for the IP. Please refer to your NOA, page 4, for a description from IHSS on each authorized service.
- A good employee speaks in a respectful manner with their IP on any concerns they have. If your IP is not doing the service as you would like, explain to them how you want it done. Firing an IP is not necessarily the best solution; allow time for the IP to train and learn the work that you need done.
- As a friendly reminder, IHSS consumers should review and sign legitimate timesheets from their IPs. Keep your own record of the hours your IP worked to avoid any discrepancies. A simple time log can help with this.
Finally, remember that courtesy and a simple “thank you” goes a long way. Please watch for upcoming newsletters that will focus on each of the above topics in more depth.