Annual UrbanSitter Membership for Sitters

At UrbanSitter, our mission is to be the most trusted place for families and caregivers to connect for care jobs. To be an approved sitter on UrbanSitter, sitters are required to have an active membership and a cleared background check. Membership is charged once a year and there are no other fees to be approved. Sitters keep 100% of their booking payments with Standard Payout and can also receive payments via Instant Payout for a small fee per payout. 

Read on to learn more about what’s included in membership and the benefits of joining UrbanSitter!

What’s included in my membership?

The annual sitter membership allows you access to all of UrbanSitter’s booking, messaging, and payment tools so you can find, schedule, and get paid for care jobs. Membership also comes with a required background check that’s necessary for sitters to clear in order to start booking jobs. Sitters apply to jobs on the Job Board and message with families to set up interviews and job bookings - and get paid via direct deposit through the site. Learn more about how getting jobs on UrbanSitter works here. 

Your membership comes with a required background check and badge for your profile when you pass a third-party check with our safety partner, Checkr. Membership also offers assistance with booking, payment, or trust & safety issues from our dedicated Member Services team. 

The annual membership comes at a yearly fee and unlocks a full year of membership benefits with no additional fees. All booking payments (besides the instant payout fee) go directly to the sitter - UrbanSitter does not take a cut of your pay! 

How do I purchase my membership?

While accessing UrbanSitter.com or the UrbanSitter app, click the Purchase Membership button on your homepage then enter your credit card details to buy your membership plan. The annual membership fee is non-refundable. 

After you successfully purchase your membership, follow the steps to submit your background check information to our background check provider, Checkr. You’ll also be emailed instructions to begin the background check. Communication will be sent to the email address on your UrbanSitter account, so make sure to double-check that yours is accurate on your Settings page.  

Once your information is submitted, Checkr will process your background check. Once completed and cleared, you’ll earn a background check badge on your sitter profile that’s good for the length of your membership. 

Has a family offered to pay for your membership? Ask them to tip you the cost or email support@urbansitter.com to pay directly.

What will the background check cover?

Our third-party safety partner Checkr runs the following background check components. Checkr dates back 7 years in accordance with federal law and the industry standard for background check lookback periods.  

• County Criminal Search (Current)
• National Criminal Search (Standard)
• Sex Offender Search
• SSN Trace
• Global Watchlist Search

You’ll need to provide your social security number to complete the background check, and Checkr will take care of the rest. Background checks are typically processed within 3-7 business days. Once cleared, a background check badge will display on your sitter profile for one year from your membership purchase date. For specifics about how Checkr processes background checks, please feel free to review their help articles here.

If you haven't submitted your background check within 30 days of purchasing your membership, the link will expire. Email us to get your new link. To request a copy of your background check results, learn more here.

How do I become approved?

If you’re a sitter new to UrbanSitter, you need a complete profile, active membership, and a cleared background check in order to be approved to start booking jobs. Once you have all the requirements and completed the steps on your Approval Checklist, your profile will be submitted for review by our team. When approved, your profile will be up and ready to connect with families! Learn more about sitter profile requirements and approval here.

If you’re an active sitter who was previously approved on UrbanSitter, you’ll need to meet these requirements to keep your status on UrbanSitter. Without a membership, your profile will be hidden from new families. You will be able to continue messaging families you’ve already been in contact with, but you will not be able to schedule bookings or find new opportunities on the Job Board. Your profile information, booking history, and reviews will still be available. 

If you do not clear the background check you will be notified via email as well. Your profile will be closed and you will no longer have access to UrbanSitter.

Do I need to renew my membership? Can I cancel? 

To check the status of your membership plan, go to your Settings page and navigate to the Membership plan section of Account Basics. There you can renew your membership if your previous year expired, or cancel your current year so it doesn't renew. You need an active membership to be an approved sitter on UrbanSitter, but if your membership expires you'll still retain access to your account, booking history, and reviews for when you return! 

If you're on an autorenewing membership plan, your next billing date will be in this section. 30 days before this date, you'll receive a notification about your upcoming Annual Membership renewal. Renewing memberships can be canceled on your Settings page (web only) anytime before the end of your billing cycle. Your membership will remain active until then and won’t automatically renew.

If you're on a nonrenewing plan, you'll see the Renew Membership Plan link in this section. You can click this link to renew your membership at any time! If you choose not to renew, your membership will expire at the end of your billing cycle (one year from the date of purchase). You can check the date you purchased your membership on your Transactions page.

Each new year of membership will come with a new background check that sitters are required to clear in order to stay active on UrbanSitter. Without an active membership and cleared background check, you will lose access to UrbanSitter tools and your profile will be hidden. To continue being an approved sitter after your current year of membership expires, you will be able to purchase your next year of membership early to allow time for your new background check to finish processing.

What if I already paid for a background check through UrbanSitter? 

Sitters who purchased and passed a background check prior to August 29, 2019 have received a free membership until one year after the date on which their background check cleared. Each sitter who qualifies for a free membership has been notified via email with their specific date. We want to ensure that sitters who have already invested in their account by purchasing a check in the past are not required to make another purchase within the same 12-month period.

If you had previously purchased a background check during the period of the 3-year background check badge, please email Member Services to receive a free membership each year through your 3-year term. Please note you will be required to complete and clear a new background check each year to retain your membership and full access to the site.

Note: This background check package was only available for purchase between the dates of December 18, 2018 - July 31, 2019. Our system has a record of sitters who purchased a background check within this time period and these sitters would have received an email from UrbanSitter citing that the background check is valid for 36 months. 

What do I do next?

When you’re ready to get started with UrbanSitter, create your sitter account then begin filling out your sitter profile and browsing available jobs on the Job Board. 

We look forward to you joining the UrbanSitter community. Happy sitting on UrbanSitter! 

Please note that the UrbanSitter platform is a space for individual care providers to market their offerings and we require one profile per sitter. Our Terms of Service do not allow daycares, preschools, etc. We appreciate your cooperation!