Whether your older loved one needs a caregiver to look out for their safety, or simply requires more assistance through the night than you can provide, you might be considering overnight care—and wondering what to budget for it.
Here, we discuss the basics of overnight caregiver services and what you can expect to pay for them.
What is overnight care?
Overnight care is as individualised as any other type of care. Some agencies provide “sleeping nights”, where the carer sleeps on the premises for at least 8 hours and is on hand to provide care if required, and some provide “waking nights”, where the caregiver is awake and on duty for a minimum of 8 hours.
Overnight care typically falls into two categories, which will impact roles as well as pay:
- Overnight hourly caregivers
- Live-in caregivers
Like daytime care services, overnight caregiving responsibilities generally depend on an elderly person’s needs. Some clients need assistance with medications or visiting the toilet during the night. Sometimes, clients with dementia will suffer from sundowning, which often manifests itself in wakefulness and wandering at night.
With both overnight care and live-in care, activities are personalised in collaboration with family members, the case manager, any medical professionals involved in care, and the client, as appropriate. However, it’s worth noting that tasks included in the plan of care are often quite specific and non-medical in nature, as the caregiver might not necessarily be qualified and licensed to provide medical support.
The most common overnight caregiver responsibilities are as follows:
- Preparing the care recipient for bed: going to the toilet or using a bedside commode.
- Reminding them to take medications.
- Changing clothes, if needed.
- Oral care.
- Tucking them into bed.
- Assisting with any of these needs throughout the night.
A waking night caregiver is expected to remain awake during the night shift in case the care recipient wakes up and requires assistance. However, there’s some flexibility regarding whether they remain in the same room or in a nearby room.
A live-in caregiver, by contrast, remains in the patient’s home for 24-hour shifts, 3 to 4 days a week. These caregivers typically do sleeping nights, where they sleep at night along with the client but can be woken to provide assistance if needed.
What you can expect to pay for overnight care
Typically, overnight caregivers are paid an hourly rate. However, the amount will vary based on a range of factors, including:
- Your location.
- The elderly person’s needs.
- Whether you are going through an agency or hiring an independent caregiver.
- Whether you are hiring a live-in or an overnight hourly shift caregiver.
- What experience and certifications the caregiver has.
According to homecare.co.uk’s most recent statistics, in-home care in 2022 typically cost between £20 and £30 per hour, but this varied depending on location.
The cost to the client for live-in care will also vary depending on the type of provider they are working with. Agencies tend to charge higher prices because of the accrual of overtime costs, while independent providers set their own rates.
How to find out the standard rates for your location
Hourly rates and live-in rates vary by both region and agency. Resources that can help you determine the rates for your area include:
- Referral sites that list agencies.
- Your insurance company.
- Local home health and nursing agencies or assisted-living facilities.
- Looking at caregiver listings on Care.com.
- Word of mouth.
Remember, if you offer less than the average rate for your area, you will either find no-one to fill the position, or will only attract poor candidates. The better you pay, the better your candidates will be.
How overtime, sleep time deductions, and taxes can impact cost
What you’ll ultimately pay for an overnight caregiver will vary depending on the precise type of overnight care you are looking for and any related built-in overtime, sleep time deductions, and taxes.
Live-in assistance with overnight care
Care workers performing sleep-in shifts who are expected to sleep for most of a shift and are provided with suitable sleeping facilities are only entitled to the National Minimum Wage for the periods when they’re awake to perform care-related tasks. If the care provider is expected to remain awake for the majority of their shift, as is the case with waking nights, they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage for the entire duration of their shift, even if they are permitted to sleep between duties.
Overnight hourly care
This role is paid by the hour. It’s worth noting that any time worked in excess of the 48-hour work week might not necessarily be paid, since employers in the UK are not obliged to pay overtime. However, the carer must not receive less than the National Minimum Wage for the total hours they work.
Families also need to be aware of the “nanny tax” when hiring a caregiver for an elderly person. Caregivers are employees, not independent contractors, and this means that families are responsible for withholding tax and National Insurance contributions.
The bottom line: Opting for a live-in caregiver can be very cost-effective if your older loved one can’t be left alone. They’ll effectively have someone with them who is available 24/7 but is only being paid for 16 out of 24 hours, which could result in less expense than hourly care.
Ultimately, figuring out which type of overnight caregiver is right for you, your elderly loved one, and your budget is a highly personal decision that’s worth researching before making a final call.
