By Ari Lazarus
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
Looking for local caregiver gigs that pay well? Care.com said it could help, for a monthly subscription fee. But, in a settlement announced on August 26, the FTC says Care.com misled workers about how many jobs were available on the platform and how much they could earn — and made it hard to cancel subscriptions — costing a lot of people a lot of time and money.
Put in your zip code and Care.com was likely to show hundreds or thousands of nearby jobs with high hourly rates. But the FTC says those numbers and rates were based on jobs that workers were unlikely to get. That’s because, since 2019, more than half of the millions of job postings on the site were posted by people with free memberships — people who couldn’t respond to workers’ job applications unless they upgraded to a paid membership.
What happened if you wanted to apply for a job? You’d need a paid auto-renewing membership to Care.com. And if you wanted to cancel? The FTC says the company made you navigate its cancellation maze and, even if you think you successfully canceled, you might still get billed the next month. Reaching customer service was difficult — and if you did, you still might not get a full refund.
Looking for a job as a caregiver? Here are some things to know.
You don’t have to pay to find a job. Consider using free websites with job listings (but first learn how to recognize the signs of a job scam). Or, sign up with an agency or company that can place you with people who need caregivers.
If you’re looking at gig work, talk to other gig workers. Reach out to your friends or family members who are gig workers to find out about their experiences, how they’re paid, and what a realistic hourly wage might be.
If you sign up for a subscription like Care.com, you’ll be charged until you cancel. To cancel, start by contacting the company and follow their instructions.
If a company doesn’t deliver on its promises or you’re having trouble canceling a subscription, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
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