What should the agency verify first?
Confirm the offer, acceptance, start date, and the specific step the candidate missed. Use the agreed contact channels, assign one staff member to follow up, and give a clear response deadline. Do not infer why the candidate is silent. Record contact attempts and any reply before changing the candidate’s status.
What should the family be told?
Share what is confirmed, what is still unknown, and when the agency will update them next. Explain the available contingency or replacement process under the service agreement. Avoid promising immediate coverage before availability and fit are checked, and keep unsupported guesses about the candidate out of the client update.
What should happen to household access and records?
Review any scheduling access, group messages, addresses, documents, or keys already shared and follow the agency’s removal process where appropriate. Preserve the offer, acceptance, and contact history. If a future employment decision relies on a third-party background report, use the agency’s reviewed screening and adverse-action process rather than treating this incident as a shortcut.
How can the agency learn from the incident?
Review offer clarity, compensation, start-date delay, competing interviews, pre-start check-ins, and family communication. Add a confirmation step or backup plan where the evidence points to a gap. Keep internal notes factual and consistent; do not create a public accusation or blacklist based on an unverified explanation.
What if the candidate withdraws the night before the first day?
Treat an explicit withdrawal as a confirmed change, rather than waiting for a no-show. Acknowledge the notice, record when it arrived, and check whether the candidate received keys, addresses, or other household access. Tell the family promptly that the planned start will not happen, give a specific next update time, and activate backup search or temporary-care options the agency can actually provide. Check the signed agreement before describing any fee, guarantee, or payment consequence. After the immediate coverage plan, review the offer and pre-start confirmation steps without speculating about the candidate’s reason.