Looking for a job that has few requirements, can offer regular income, and involves nothing more taxing than “light” housekeeping and running errands? Check out Papa.
What is Papa?
Papa works with employers, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage plans to provide an array of household and wellness services. The site performs this mission by enlisting a cadre of freelance “pals” willing to take two to four hour shifts, providing one or several services from a menu of available tasks.
These tasks include running errands, providing rides, watching pets, light cleaning, yard work, meal preparation, companionship and helping with basic technology tasks, such as ing apps on a smartphone.
How it works for clients
The only way to access Papa services as a consumer is to be part of a health care plan that offers it. of these participating plans generally get up to 40 hours of Papa pal services for free. If they want more, they pay an hourly fee.
How it works for freelance ‘pals’
Freelancers sign up to be “pals” via smartphone. The site requires you to provide some personal information, including your age, driver’s license number and Social Security number. The site uses that information to conduct a detailed background check on you. Since the site’s main goal is to take care of potentially vulnerable seniors, anyone with a criminal past — or even serious driving violations — need not apply.
Outside of that, the only requirement is that you’re over 21, able to communicate in English, and drive an insured car that’s 2008 or newer.
Once approved, you’ll get notifications when someone in your area needs help. The notification shows what type of help is needed and for how many hours. You choose which assignments to accept, based on the type of assignment (i.e. cleaning, companionship, driving, walking or feeding a pet, etc.), as well as when and how long your help is needed.
Papa review (for freelancers):
Some sites offer “companionship” work sounds a little sketchy — the type of thing you wouldn’t want to tell your mother about. That’s not true with Papa.
Papa is a personal wellness company that primarily focuses on seniors needing part-time assistance. This assistance might involve running errands, putting away groceries or dishes, making meals or reminding seniors to take their medications.
However, outside of providing a hand to help a senior up stairs, services that involve personal touch are strictly forbidden. You are not helping seniors with activities of daily living (like getting dressed, showered, or going to the toilet). Nor do you fill medicine boxes or provide any medical service.
You are simply there to help with household tasks that a senior or disabled individual might have trouble managing.
What you do
Specifically, the site says their assignments fall into these categories and descriptions:
- Companionship: Engage in conversations, watch movies, play board games, go for a walk, and more.
- Tech : Help and access apps. Teach a member how to use video calls, or send an email.
- Errands & transportation: Drive a member to the doctor’s office, grocery store, bank, or anywhere they need to go.
- Light home tasks: Assist with laundry, light cleaning, meal prep, light organization, and more.
- Pets: Assist in walking or filling a water or food bowl for a member’s pet.
- Medication : Remind the member to take their medication or assist with medication pick-up and drop-off.
- Child & parental : Some visits involve assisting a member with their children. For example, you might help by watching a child at home or at a playground. But the member must always be present.
Assignments will show how long your help is needed and in which of these categories (or combination of categories). You choose what to accept and what to ignore.
Pay
Papa pals are paid hourly at rates from $13 to $19 per hour. (The $19 per hour rate is only in Massachusetts.) Pals are paid $13 to $17 per hour in most states, with a few high-cost locations, such as California and New York, paying slightly better.
However, if you’re enlisted to drive a client around or do errands while using your car, you are also paid for mileage. In most states, the mileage rate is 45 cents per mile from the first mile driven. In a few states, you don’t get paid for the first 10 miles, but can claim mileage expenses after that.
Pals get 56 per mile to commute to assignments in 24 states, (where the hourly pay is closer to the minimum). But, you’re only paid for one way.
A final element of pay is made up of bonuses, which are paid after you take a set number of assignments. For instance, if you complete two different visits in one day, you qualify for a $10 daily bonus. If you complete six visits in a single week, you qualify for a $25 bonus.
Based on the bonus structure, it appears bonuses would raise the hourly pay by about $1 to $2 per hour or less.
Payment frequency
Hourly wages, mileage and any daily bonus, are paid the day following an assignment via direct deposit. Weekly bonuses are paid once a week on Wednesdays.
Mixed bag
While the work descriptions appear reasonable and the pay decent, freelancers give the app mixed reviews. That’s partly because clients are allowed to expand the nature of the visit, apparently without repercussions. And freelancers have little luck getting help from customer service when they need it.
Additionally, there are other apps that provide some similar services, but either pay better or give the freelancer the right to set their own pay.
And, while Papa spells out a clear payment formula that always provides mileage reimbursements after a few miles, some freelancers maintain that the site doesn’t pay them for mileage. If you were enlisted to drive a significant distance for a client, mileage reimbursements are important.
Recommendations
We think this site offers decent opportunity and appears to have significant work in some cities. (You can sign up with Papa here.)
However, if the jobs you’re interested in involve providing care for seniors or pets, we’d suggest you also sign up with Care and Rover, respectively. Both sites give you the ability to set your own rate of pay and specify the type of care you provide.
Additionally, make sure you read your Papa contract carefully. It appears that the site’s FAQs may not be fully accurate. And your work arrangement with this company will be governed by the contract and that they send you, not just what’s posted on the site.
Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent website that reviews moneymaking opportunities in the gig economy.
