I live in California and I have been caring for a wheel chair bound, 95 year old woman with dementia for 3 years, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week . I cant leave her for a second by herself. I tried getting help, because I am burnt out. The girl I hired quit after 2 months of working without pay. (The ladies son wouldnt pay her). Since i live rent free, does that count as my pay for caring for the lady? Should I be getting paid also? If so how much is the weekly minimum pay for 24 hour care 7 days a week in california?
"Can meal and lodging credits be applied by an employer against a domestic worker’s wages? Yes. Meal and lodging credits can be applied. However, an employer must abide by the limits specified in Wage Order No. 15. That is, meals or lodging may only be credited against the minimum wage if the employer and the employee enter into a voluntary written agreement before the work is performed. (This requirement applies to all types of domestic workers.)"
Thus, if your employer did not make an agreement with you to subtract meal and lodging from your wages, if you file a wage claim or file a lawsuit, you will be entitled to minimum wage for 9 hrs per day and overtime for anything over 9 hrs per day or over 40 hrs per week.
Also, note that if you report your employer and your employer retaliates by firing you, etc. you have recourse under the law.
I would find someone who knows the work you have done all these years - a personal reference who can vouch to your next employer that you have done above and beyond what is required, or a physician who knows the care you have provided, etc. and extricate yourself from this situation.
If, however, you do not agree that this is a fair wage, ...because it is “at will” employment, you can leave any time. If the family is failing to meet legal obligations (paying workers) l, this is not a secure position.
I am going to assume that son will say you are not an employee but a "volunteer caregiver."
So in your case, California has a domestic caregiver coalition. Here is the link:
https://www.cadomesticworkers.org/
It tells you wages of your area, etc. If I were you, I would reach out to them for assistance.
Did you have permission to hire the other person? If you did, why wasn’t she paid? Do you want to remain there as an employee? It doesn’t sound like a feasible option to me. What else do they provide? Food?
This is a confusing posting. Can you please give more details so people can respond. There is absolutely no way that you can keep up this pace. Sleep deprecation is brutal. Plus, how can you properly care for someone if you aren’t caring for yourself?
Contact the state labor board and see if you have any kind of case. Absent an actual employment contract, you might be hard-pressed to get that kind of money from the son, but I have a feeling you can put together some kind of case using receipts, witnesses, and recreating time cards to account for the time you've been there.