Ready to work: what a professional you hire needs before the first shift

Ready to work is one answer for each professional you hire yourself, on the Getting started tab of their profile: Ready to work, or Not ready to work with the reasons in plain words, for example Not ready to work: license not checked on the state registry, CPR missing, waiting for your approval. The same answer is what the clock, an open shift and a shift offer read, so the profile and the clock never disagree.

The checklist, in order: Getting started finished (the professional's own onboarding); Background check, recommended; License checked on the state registry, required for a CNA, HHA, LPN, RN or any nurse, and not needed for a companion or sitter role without a license; CPR, required, verified and not expired; TB test, optional; and Your approval to work, required. A recommended or optional item is shown and never holds the first shift: a background check not done reads Not done (recommended) in amber, and it is never one of the reasons.

You record each check; ExpressAgain never looks anything up for you and does not verify a license itself. To check a license, look the person up on your state's nurse aide or nursing board registry, then tap Record a check, pick License, How: State registry lookup, the day you looked and, if you like, the expiry date. A license copy the professional uploaded, or one you only saw, is not a registry check. CPR reads Verified once you record that you saw the card; past its expiry date it counts as not verified and reads Expired, within 30 days it reads Expiring soon, and otherwise Expires with the date.

Approve to work is the account owner's: tap it when you are ready for the person to start. Who approved and when are kept; Take back approval puts the first shift on hold again.

Someone an agency places with you: the agency is responsible for their credentials, so each one reads Agency's responsibility and nothing on this list holds their shift (the agency's own requirements stay as they are). Your approval is optional for them. A Care team clinician, such as a visiting nurse, and an agency office login are never held by it.

Anyone who already worked at least one shift in your home before October 22, 2026 is never held back. Their profile reads Missing for this professional, with the gaps, and a reminder to close them when you can. Everyone whose first shift in your home is on or after October 22, 2026 needs the checklist done first.

You can still put a professional who is not ready on the schedule: the save says Not ready to work and the reasons, and the clock refuses the shift until it is done. The professional sees the same reasons when they try to clock in, take an open shift or accept a shift, with a link to their Documents to upload a copy; pay for work already done is never blocked.

Your home's settings are on Compliance & Credentials, Requirements, under Before the first shift: License checked on the state registry, CPR, Your approval before the first shift, Background check and TB test, each with a switch. The defaults: license, CPR and approval required, the background check recommended and the TB test optional. Only the account owner changes them, and every change is kept under Change history with who and when.