RuahTrust & SafetyTrust & Safety
Here is what we check, what we do not check, and what we think you should do yourself. We would rather tell you where our checks stop than let you assume they go further than they do.
Identity verification
Every caregiver with a verified badge has passed an identity check run by Didit, an identity verification provider. Ruah does not do it by hand, and Ruah never sees the documents.
Document, liveness, face match
A government ID is checked for authenticity, a short video confirms a live person, and the face is matched to the ID.
Run by an independent service
Didit is a specialised identity verification service. It decides pass, fail or review; Ruah records only that decision.
Ruah stores no documents
No ID image, ID number or date of birth ever reaches Ruah. If our database were opened tomorrow, there would be nothing of that kind in it.
What the verified badge means, exactly
One thing: this person is who they say they are.
It is not:
- a criminal background check
- a check of sex offender, child abuse or driving registries
- a check of references, employment history or certifications
- an endorsement, or any judgment about someone's character or fitness to care for your children
Reviews from real hires
A family can review a caregiver only after confirming a hire on Ruah. One review per hire: a rating from 1 to 5 and a sentence or two. The caregiver can reply once.
Under three reviews you see only how many families hired the caregiver, not an average. Reviews are never deleted; one written in bad faith can be hidden by our team.
Background checks, ordered by you
When you are ready to meet a caregiver, you ask for a background check from the profile and pay per check once the caregiver agrees. The check is run by Checkr, a consumer reporting agency; the caregiver consents and enters the details on Checkr's page.
Families see whether each check passed and the date. Ruah does not share report contents. Caregivers can get a copy of their own report from Checkr and may choose to share it with a family themselves.
Only the passed mark on a profile, with its date, means a check was run. No other badge or label on Ruah means a caregiver has been background checked.
What a background check cannot tell you
A background check is useful, and limited. Four limits worth knowing:
- 1
Most records go back seven years. Older convictions are usually not reported.
- 2
Some states do not report arrests or charges that did not end in a conviction.
- 3
Court coverage is uneven. Some counties and states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire among them, are incomplete.
- 4
A check depends on the name, date of birth and Social Security number the person provides. A different name or a typo can miss records.
Treat a clear result as one input, next to references, a conversation, and your own judgment.
Hiring someone to work in your home makes you an employer
This part does not depend on where you live. When you hire a caregiver to work in your home, you are a household employer, and federal wage law treats the person you hired as your employee rather than as a contractor you booked.
The details below are kept in English so they match their sources word for word.
- The Department of Labor states that people employed in domestic service in private homes are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and it lists nannies and babysitters among them.
- Covered workers must be paid at least the federal minimum wage, plus overtime at one and a half times their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a week for the same employer.
- A caregiver who lives in your home is exempt from the overtime rule but is still owed the minimum wage for every hour worked.
- Babysitting employed on a casual basis is exempt from both. Casual means irregular or intermittent work by someone whose vocation is not babysitting, so an occasional evening sitter may qualify where a regular nanny does not.
- You are expected to keep records for any worker owed minimum wage or overtime: their name and address, the hours worked each day and each week, and what you paid. The Department of Labor asks employers to keep these for three years.
That is the federal floor, not the whole answer. Many states set a higher minimum wage, and where they do, the higher rate is the one you owe.
Put it in writing, wherever you are
Only some places require a written agreement, but a written agreement is worth having everywhere. It settles the things people argue about later: the pay rate and when pay arrives, the hours, the duties, time off, and how either side can end the arrangement. The National Domestic Workers Alliance publishes a plain-language guide for workers and employers.
Fair contracts for domestic work: a guide for workers and employers ↗
Your state may ask for more than the federal floor
A number of places have passed a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which extends protections beyond the federal baseline. By the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s count, twelve states, two major cities, and the District of Columbia have one.
What they require is not uniform. Depending on where you live, the law may cover written agreements, rest and meal breaks, paid time off, notice before a schedule changes, or protection from harassment and retaliation. Look up your own state rather than assuming a neighboring state’s rules carry over.
A written agreement, if you want one
A written agreement is a good idea, and it is between you and your caregiver. If you would like one, we will prepare it for you: based on the official template, pre-filled with the details you have both confirmed, in English and the caregiver’s preferred language. Just ask.
And it doesn’t have to be one-and-done: some families like to revisit the agreement after a trial period or when schedules change. Whenever you want it updated, same deal: just ask.
Or email us:hello@ruahruah.com
Two footnotes on the rules
- In the District of Columbia a written services contract is not optional: the Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022 requires household employers to provide one, and to make a reasonable effort to provide it in the language the worker prefers. A caregiver in DC is entitled to that contract and can ask for it. The official DC template contract ↗
- Some states have additional requirements for domestic work. Check yours. Domestic worker protections by state ↗
This is information, not legal advice
Ruah is not a law firm and does not give legal, tax, or employment advice. This page points you toward the official sources so you can read them yourself or take them to someone who can advise you. Where anything here differs from what the Department of Labor, your own state, or the District of Columbia publishes, they are right and we are not.
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If a profile, a message, or an interaction feels wrong, report it. We read everything that comes in, and we act on anything involving safety. You do not need to be certain before you tell us.
Or email us:hello@ruahruah.com