441 Care · part of 441 Service Finder
Hiring a carer directly: what you take on.
Many families hire an independent carer because it costs less and the relationship is closer. It also makes you the employer. This page says what that means in Bermuda, in plain words, with links to the offices that decide. It is not legal or tax advice.
You become the employer
When you pay a carer directly you are their employer, not a customer of an agency. The agreement, the pay, the hours, the notice and the obligations below are yours. 441 Care is not a party to the arrangement and never sees what happens in your home.
Payroll tax
Payroll tax applies to all employers in Bermuda. Someone who works 16 hours or less a month for you is not counted as an employee for payroll tax.
There is an exemption for employees who care for a person with a physical or mental disability at that person's home. It has to be applied for in writing through the Office of the Tax Commissioner and approved by the Minister of Finance; it is not automatic.
Social insurance
Everyone employed in Bermuda aged 18 or over must have a social insurance number, and employers pay contributions to the Contributory Pension Fund on their behalf. Confirm the current weekly contribution and the hours rule with the Department of Social Insurance before the first pay day.
Health insurance
Bermuda's Health Insurance Act requires employers to insure their employees. Whether that applies to a part-time carer depends on the hours worked. The Bermuda Health Council can tell you what the Standard Health Benefit is and what you must provide.
Work permits
A work permit ties its holder to the employer named on it. A carer on someone else's permit cannot work for you on the side, and a family that wants to bring a live-in carer from overseas applies for the permit as the employer. The Department of Immigration decides all of this; 441 Care lists independent carers only where no permit is needed.
A written agreement
Put hours, rate, duties, notice, holidays and what happens when either of you is ill in writing before the first shift. The Health Council publishes a sample client and caregiver contract; start from that.
Sample client and caregiver contract (Bermuda Health Council) ↗
What 441 Care does, and does not do
We sight identity, a police certificate and references, and we check the Council's register every night. We do not employ, supervise or monitor carers. A badge dated March tells you what was true in March. If something goes wrong, tell us and we read it within two business days.
General information, checked against the Government's and the Council's own pages on the date shown. Not legal, tax or immigration advice. Rules change; the links go to the offices that decide. Checked 7 September 2026.