Terms of use

These are the terms you agree to by using Saheli. We've tried to write them so that you can actually read them, because terms nobody reads protect nobody.

What Saheli is

Saheli is a place where families find companions for non-medical care, and where companions find families. We check who joins, we make introductions possible, and we give both sides the tools to arrange things between themselves.

What Saheli is not

• We are not a home-care agency. We do not provide care, supervise visits, or direct how a companion does their work.
• We are not a medical service. Companions provide no medical care of any kind. In an emergency, call 911.
• We are not a party to the arrangement you make. The agreement about days, hours, duties and rate is between the family and the companion.

Who can use Saheli

You must be 18 or over. If you're arranging care for someone else, you must have their agreement, or the legal authority to act for them.

Your account

One account per person, with an email address you control. Because that email address is how you sign in, whoever can read it can sign in as you. Keep the details you give us accurate, and tell us at hello@saheli.ca if you think someone else has got into your account.

What we check, and what that means

Every companion applies and is interviewed by a member of our team before they can appear on Saheli. When a companion provides a criminal record check, we review it ourselves, and their profile carries a verified badge.

This is a set of checks, not a guarantee. It is not a promise that any companion is safe, suitable or honest, and it cannot be. A record check describes the past, not the future. Meet anyone you're considering, ask them your own questions, take up your own references if you want to, and use your own judgement. That judgement is yours and it stays yours.

If you're a family

• Give companions accurate information about what the work involves.
• Don't ask a companion to do anything medical, or anything they've told you they can't do.
• Don't ask a companion to handle money, sign documents, or make decisions for anyone.
• Treat companions with respect. They are working in your family's home, which asks something of both sides.

If you're a companion

• Be truthful in your application and keep your profile accurate.
• If you've given us a record check, keep it current, and tell us if your circumstances change.
• Never provide medical care, handle a family's money, or sign anything on their behalf, no matter who asks you to. Say no, and tell us.
• Turn up when you said you would, or let the family know as early as you can.
• Treat what you learn about a family as private. You'll see how people live, and that isn't yours to share.

How companions work

Companions on Saheli are independent contractors, not employees of Saheli. They decide their own hours, set their own rates, choose which families to work with, and decide how they do the work. Saheli does not assign shifts, supervise visits, or direct the way care is given.

That means companions are responsible for their own taxes, for any registrations their work requires, and for their own insurance. Saheli does not deduct tax, does not provide employment benefits, and does not provide workers' compensation coverage.

Money

Each companion sets their own rate, and you see it before you book. Families pay through Saheli: your card is saved when you book and charged after the visit happens — never before. Saheli adds a service fee to the family's total, shown as its own line before you confirm. The companion keeps their full listed rate; Saheli's fee never comes out of it.

Payments run on Stripe, our payment provider. Your card number goes to Stripe directly and never touches Saheli's systems. Companions are paid out weekly, by Stripe, to their own bank account.

Cancelling a visit can carry a fee. Cancelling well ahead of the visit is free; the closer to the visit you cancel, the more of the visit price is owed, up to the full amount. The exact amount is shown before you confirm a cancellation. If the companion cancels, or the visit does not happen, the family is not charged.

Tips are optional and go to the companion in full. Saheli never charges a companion to be listed, to be interviewed, or to appear higher in a list.

If any of this changes, we'll tell you before it applies to you.

Things you must not do

• Lie about who you are, or hold an account on someone else's behalf without telling us.
• Harass, threaten, abuse or exploit anyone: a companion, a family, or a senior.
• Use Saheli to advertise something else, or to collect people's details.
• Try to get at information you're not meant to see, or interfere with how the site works.
• Use Saheli for anything unlawful.

Seniors are often vulnerable, and financial abuse of an older person is one of the things we watch for most closely. If we believe someone is being exploited we will act on it, including by contacting the authorities.

What you write on Saheli

What you write stays yours. By posting it you allow us to show it to the people it's meant for and to store it so the service works. We can remove anything that breaks these terms.

Suspending or closing an account

You can close your account at any time. We can suspend or close an account if these terms are broken, if a check comes back in a way that means someone can't be listed, or if we believe somebody is at risk. Where we can, we'll tell you why.

Where our responsibility ends

Saheli introduces people. What happens in the arrangement between a family and a companion is between them, and we are not responsible for it: for the quality of the care, for whether someone turns up, for anything that goes missing, or for any injury or loss.

We work hard to keep Saheli running and accurate, but we can't promise the site is always available or that everything on it is correct. To the extent the law allows, our liability to you is limited to any fees you have paid us.

Nothing here takes away rights you have under Ontario consumer protection law, and nothing here limits our liability for anything the law says we can't limit.

Changes to these terms

If we change something meaningful, we'll update the date at the top and tell account holders by email before it takes effect.

Which law applies

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada that apply there.

Talking to us

If something here doesn't seem right, or you disagree with a decision we've made, write to hello@saheli.ca before doing anything else. Most things are a misunderstanding and most misunderstandings can be sorted out by a conversation.

See also our privacy policy, which explains what we do with your information.