How do I handle shift swaps without breaking the rules?
Let caregivers swap only with someone trained and cleared for that client, and have a person in your office approve it before the visit. Georgia’s private home care rule says no personal care assistant may be assigned a task before required training and a competency check are done. Update the schedule so the visit record matches who really went.
Shift swaps help your team keep their lives running. They also create risk if no one tells the office.
A basic swap policy:
- Both caregivers ask the office. No swaps by text between caregivers only.
- The new caregiver must be trained and cleared for that client and task. Georgia’s private home care rule says no personal care assistant may be assigned a task before training is complete and competency is determined.
- The office checks weekly hours for both people, so a swap does not cause overtime.
- The office changes the schedule before the visit. In Georgia’s EVV system, administrators add and change scheduled visits in the admin portal.
- The client or family is told who is coming.
Why it matters for EVV: the check-in belongs to a person. If one caregiver works a visit scheduled for another, the visit record will not match, and the visit can come back with a problem later.
Personnel files should show each person’s training, TB screening and background check, so you can show an auditor that whoever went was qualified.
Sources
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09 Administration and Organization (private home care providers) · Cornell Legal Information Institute (Georgia rules)
- EVV Provider Quick Start Guide · Georgia DCH
- Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Provider-Related FAQs · Georgia DCH
Reviewed by Beth Bledsoe, Care Business Advisor®, 28 Oct 2026. Rules change. Confirm with your state Medicaid agency before you act.
How CareBravo®’s Scheduling & Payroll agent handles this
Want to see where this is costing your agency money? Four minutes, your agency’s name on the answer.