Care.com: Company Profile & Background Check FAQs

Care.com was founded in 2006 by Sheila Lirio Marcelo, along with co-founders including Dave Krupinski and Donna Levin, and launched from Waltham, Massachusetts. The company built one of the largest online destinations for finding and managing family care, letting families post jobs and search profiles for babysitters, nannies, senior caregivers, pet sitters, housekeepers, and tutors, while caregivers use the platform to find work. The company has operated offices in several locations, including Austin, Texas, and Berlin, Germany, alongside its Massachusetts roots.

Care.com went public in 2014 and was later acquired by IAC, the media and internet holding company, in a deal valued at approximately 500 million dollars that closed in February 2020. At the time of the acquisition, Care.com reported serving more than 35 million people across roughly 20 countries. Beyond its consumer marketplace, the company operates Care for Business, an employer-sponsored care benefits offering, and HomePay, a household payroll and tax service for families that employ caregivers directly.

An important distinction for anyone researching the company: caregivers who find jobs through Care.com are generally hired directly by families, not employed by Care.com. The company's own workforce is made up of corporate employees in areas like engineering, product, marketing, sales, trust and safety, and member care. That means the screening a caregiver completes to join the platform is separate from the pre-employment screening a corporate job applicant might undergo.

Company culture and employee programs: As a technology company focused on care, Care.com hires for roles spanning software development, data, customer support, content, and operations, with hybrid and office-based positions depending on team and location. The company publicly emphasizes its mission of making care more accessible for families and caregivers. Benefits and programs vary by role and location, so candidates should confirm current offerings during the interview process.

Yes. Companies in the online care marketplace industry, including Care.com, are legally permitted to conduct background checks, both on their own corporate job candidates and on caregivers who enroll on the platform, provided they follow applicable laws. In the United States, background checks prepared by a consumer reporting agency are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires disclosure, written consent, and specific adverse action procedures before results can be used against an individual.

Care.com publicly states that individual caregivers on its US platform are required to complete the company's background check program, historically known as CareCheck, before they can engage with families, and that this screening is renewed periodically while a caregiver remains active. For its own corporate hires, Care.com is generally reported to conduct pre-employment background checks, consistent with standard practice among technology companies that handle sensitive member data. The exact scope of a Care.com background check may vary by role and by the level of screening a family requests.

For corporate roles, the Care.com hiring process typically starts with an online application, followed by a recruiter phone screen and one or more rounds of interviews with the hiring team, which may include technical or skills-based assessments for engineering and data positions. Candidates who receive an offer may be asked to consent to a background check before starting. For caregivers, the path is different: creating a profile involves identity verification and completing the platform's required background check before applying to jobs posted by families.

Timing depends on the searches involved and the jurisdictions where a candidate has lived. Many checks are completed within a few business days, while reports requiring county courthouse research across multiple locations can take longer. Caregivers waiting on platform screening and corporate applicants alike can learn what drives timing in this guide to background check turnaround times.

The components depend on who is ordering the check and for what purpose. A screening connected to Care.com, whether for a platform caregiver or a corporate hire, may include some or all of the following:

Caregivers should review Care.com's safety pages and consent forms to understand the platform's current screening, and corporate candidates should review their disclosure documents.

According to Care.com's published safety information, all individual caregivers in the US must complete and pass the platform's required background check before they can interact with families, and the check is refreshed on a recurring basis while they remain active. Families can also choose to request or pay for additional, more detailed screenings. Care.com itself encourages families to take further steps, such as interviews and reference checks, since no screening can guarantee safety.

Lookback periods are set by law rather than by the company alone. Under the FCRA, most negative information other than convictions generally cannot be reported once it is more than seven years old, and some states limit conviction reporting to seven years as well. Certain exceptions apply, including for positions above specific salary thresholds. Because caregivers and corporate applicants live in many different states, the same type of record may be reportable for one person and not another.

For corporate roles, Care.com does not publish a detailed policy on hiring candidates with felony records, and decisions are typically made case by case in light of the role and applicable law, including "ban-the-box" laws in many states and cities. For the caregiver platform, Care.com's screening criteria are stricter: the company states that its required background check is designed to identify disqualifying criminal records, and caregivers with certain convictions may not be allowed to join or remain on the platform. Individuals with records should review the platform's current policies and answer all questions honestly.

Both caregivers and corporate candidates will typically be asked to provide written consent before screening begins, along with accurate personal information such as full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and address history. Caregivers may also need to verify their identity as part of profile creation. Providing accurate, complete information helps searches run against the correct records and prevents avoidable delays or mismatches.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a federal law governing how consumer reporting agencies assemble and share background check information. It requires consent before a check is run for employment purposes, mandates pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, and gives individuals the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information. These protections extend to caregivers screened for platform access as well as traditional job applicants. Learn more in this introduction to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and EEOC guidance.

Running a personal background check with Checkr lets you preview what Care.com may see and helps you identify potential inaccuracies before they affect your application, whether you are joining the platform as a caregiver or applying for a corporate role. In one secure report you can review:

Create your report in minutes at Checkr Personal Background Checks. To showcase verified credentials proactively, build a free Checkr Profile you can share with recruiters, hiring managers, or potential employers.

Check your report status in the Candidate Portal. Or, visit the Checkr Help Center for FAQs, dispute steps, and to contact support.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.