Welcome to HelpHive. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the HelpHive website, mobile applications, platform, and related services (collectively, the "Platform"). By creating an account, accessing the Platform, purchasing a membership, posting a childcare request, accepting a childcare opportunity, or otherwise using HelpHive, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you may not use the Platform.
1. About HelpHive
HelpHive is a technology marketplace designed to connect parents and guardians seeking flexible childcare assistance with college students and other eligible individuals who may provide childcare services.
HelpHive provides the technology and marketplace that facilitates connections between users. HelpHive does not directly employ sitters and, unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, does not itself provide childcare services.
The relationship for childcare services is between the parent or guardian and the sitter.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use HelpHive as a parent, guardian, sitter, or service provider.
Parents and guardians must have the legal authority to arrange childcare for the children identified in their account or requests.
Sitters must provide accurate information about their identity, education, experience, availability, and qualifications.
HelpHive may require additional information or verification before allowing a user to access certain features.
3. Parent and Guardian Responsibilities
Parents and guardians are responsible for:
Providing accurate information about themselves and the children receiving care.
Providing accurate information regarding the requested childcare services.
Providing important information regarding allergies, medical needs, behavioral needs, emergency contacts, household rules, and other information reasonably necessary for safe childcare.
Confirming that a selected sitter is appropriate for their family's specific needs.
Providing a safe environment for childcare.
Making appropriate arrangements for pickup, drop-off, access to the home, transportation, and emergency situations.
Paying all applicable membership fees and other amounts owed through the Platform.
Parents and guardians are ultimately responsible for deciding whether to engage a particular sitter.
4. Sitter Responsibilities
Sitters are responsible for:
Providing truthful and accurate information to HelpHive and users.
Maintaining any required eligibility or verification requirements.
Accurately representing their education, experience, certifications, availability, and qualifications.
Communicating honestly and professionally with parents and guardians.
Following applicable laws and regulations.
Providing childcare services in a responsible and professional manner.
Immediately informing HelpHive if information previously provided becomes inaccurate or if they become ineligible to provide services through the Platform.
Sitters are independent service providers and are not employees of HelpHive unless a separate written agreement expressly states otherwise.
5. Background Checks and Verification
HelpHive may use third-party providers to conduct identity verification, education verification, background checks, or other screening procedures.
Where applicable, background checks may be conducted through a third-party screening provider.
A completed background check does not guarantee that a sitter is safe, qualified, trustworthy, or suitable for a particular family.
Background checks are based on information available to the screening provider at the time of the check and may not identify every criminal record, incident, or other relevant information.
HelpHive does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or continued accuracy of any background check or verification result.
Parents and guardians are responsible for making their own informed decisions regarding whether to engage a sitter.
HelpHive may suspend, restrict, or remove a sitter from the Platform based on screening results, verification issues, complaints, safety concerns, policy violations, or other information available to HelpHive.
6. No Guarantee of Childcare Services
HelpHive does not guarantee that:
A sitter will be available for a particular date or time.
A parent will receive a response to a childcare request.
A particular sitter will accept a request.
A childcare arrangement will occur.
A sitter will meet a family's expectations.
A parent will meet a sitter's expectations.
HelpHive is a marketplace and technology platform. Users are responsible for evaluating whether a particular childcare arrangement is appropriate for their circumstances.
7. Memberships and Fees
Certain features of HelpHive may require a paid membership.
Membership pricing, billing periods, promotional pricing, introductory pricing, and other applicable fees will be disclosed to users before purchase.
Unless otherwise stated, membership fees provide access to the HelpHive Platform and its applicable features and do not guarantee a particular number of childcare bookings, responses, matches, or hours of childcare.
Membership fees are separate from any compensation paid to a sitter for childcare services.
HelpHive may change membership pricing in the future. Where required by law, users will receive advance notice of material pricing changes.
8. Non-Circumvention and Off-Platform Arrangements
HelpHive invests resources in developing its marketplace, recruiting and screening sitters, acquiring and serving parents, facilitating introductions, and maintaining the technology and safety systems through which users connect.
To protect these legitimate business interests, users agree not to intentionally circumvent HelpHive by moving a childcare relationship that was introduced, matched, facilitated, or arranged through HelpHive off the Platform for the purpose of avoiding applicable HelpHive membership requirements, fees, policies, or protections.
For clarity, this Section does not restrict how parents and sitters pay each other for childcare services — payment for childcare is handled directly between parents and sitters outside the Platform. This Section is limited to avoiding HelpHive's registration fee, verification process, and matching services by moving the relationship itself off-Platform.
8.1 HelpHive-Introduced Relationships
For twelve (12) months following the date of the most recent HelpHive-facilitated introduction, match, booking, or other meaningful connection between a parent or guardian and a sitter, neither party may knowingly establish or maintain a direct or recurring childcare arrangement outside of HelpHive when that relationship was first established through the HelpHive Platform.
This restriction applies only to childcare relationships between users who were introduced or connected through HelpHive.
8.2 No Circumvention of the Platform
Users may not intentionally:
Exchange contact information for the purpose of moving a HelpHive-introduced childcare relationship off the Platform.
Arrange recurring childcare directly with a HelpHive-introduced sitter or parent in order to avoid HelpHive's registration fee, verification requirements, or policies.
Encourage another user to cancel, avoid, or bypass HelpHive in order to continue a relationship independently.
Use information obtained through HelpHive to intentionally circumvent the Platform.
Use the Platform's communication, matching, or booking features to facilitate an off-platform arrangement designed to avoid HelpHive's business model.
8.3 Pre-Existing Relationships
This Section does not prohibit a parent, guardian, or sitter from working with a person they can demonstrate they independently knew or worked with before being introduced through HelpHive.
The restriction applies to relationships that were first established through HelpHive.
8.4 Circumvention Fee
If a parent or guardian and a sitter establish a direct or recurring childcare arrangement in violation of Section 8.1 within twelve (12) months of a HelpHive-facilitated introduction, HelpHive may charge the parent or guardian a circumvention fee in an amount disclosed in HelpHive's then-current fee schedule, in addition to any other remedies available under this Section. This fee is intended to reasonably approximate the value of HelpHive's introduction, verification, and matching services and is not a penalty.
8.5 Enforcement
HelpHive may suspend or terminate accounts that intentionally circumvent the Platform or violate this Section.
Where permitted by applicable law, HelpHive may also pursue other remedies available to it for intentional circumvention of the Platform, including the fee described in Section 8.4.
Nothing in this Section is intended to prohibit lawful employment, childcare services, or other professional relationships that are unrelated to a relationship first established through HelpHive.
9. Sitter Compensation
HelpHive may facilitate communication or payment arrangements between parents and sitters.
Unless otherwise expressly stated by HelpHive, HelpHive does not take a percentage commission from a sitter's childcare compensation.
The amount, timing, and method of payment for childcare services may be governed by the applicable arrangement between the parent and sitter and any payment terms displayed through the Platform.
Users are responsible for complying with applicable tax laws and reporting obligations.
10. Cancellations and Refunds
Cancellation, refund, and membership policies may vary depending on the service or transaction involved.
Where applicable, the specific cancellation or refund terms presented to a user at the time of purchase will control.
HelpHive may issue refunds or credits at its discretion where permitted by law.
Nothing in these Terms limits any non-waivable consumer rights that apply to a user under applicable law.
11. User Accounts
Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their login information and for activity occurring through their account.
You agree to notify HelpHive promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without authorization.
You may not create an account using false information, impersonate another person, or create an account for someone else without authorization.
HelpHive reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or create safety, legal, or operational concerns.
12. Prohibited Conduct
You agree not to:
Provide false, misleading, or fraudulent information.
Impersonate another person.
Use HelpHive for unlawful purposes.
Harass, threaten, abuse, discriminate against, or otherwise mistreat another user.
Attempt to circumvent HelpHive's membership, payment, verification, or safety systems.
Use another person's account without authorization.
Attempt to obtain another user's private information without permission.
Upload malicious software or interfere with the Platform.
Use the Platform to solicit or facilitate illegal activity.
Misrepresent your qualifications, education, identity, experience, or background.
Use HelpHive in a manner that creates an unreasonable safety risk.
Scrape, copy, reproduce, reverse engineer, or commercially exploit the Platform without written permission.
13. Child Safety
Because HelpHive facilitates connections involving childcare, safety is a fundamental part of the Platform.
Users must immediately report suspected abuse, exploitation, threats, unsafe conduct, or other serious safety concerns to the appropriate emergency services or authorities when appropriate and may also report the matter to HelpHive.
If there is an immediate threat to a child's safety, users should contact 911 or the appropriate emergency authority rather than relying solely on HelpHive.
HelpHive may immediately suspend or remove accounts when it believes doing so is reasonably necessary to protect users or children.
14. User Content
Users may submit information, photographs, messages, reviews, profiles, childcare requests, and other content through the Platform ("User Content").
You retain ownership of User Content that you submit, subject to the rights necessary for HelpHive to operate the Platform.
By submitting User Content, you grant HelpHive a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and use that content as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, improve, and provide the Platform.
You are responsible for ensuring that your User Content does not violate applicable law or the rights of another person.
15. Reviews and Feedback
Users may have the ability to submit ratings, reviews, feedback, or other comments about their experiences.
Reviews must be truthful and based on the user's actual experience.
HelpHive may remove content that is fraudulent, abusive, threatening, defamatory, discriminatory, irrelevant, or otherwise violates these Terms.
16. Third-Party Services
HelpHive may use third-party services to provide certain features, including payment processing, identity verification, background screening, analytics, communications, hosting, and other technology services.
Third-party services may have their own terms and privacy policies.
HelpHive is not responsible for the independent actions, policies, availability, or performance of third-party services.
17. Privacy
Your use of HelpHive is also governed by the HelpHive Privacy Policy.
The HelpHive name, logo, trademarks, service marks, software, website, application, designs, graphics, text, and other materials provided by HelpHive are owned by or licensed to HelpHive and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws.
Except as expressly permitted by HelpHive, users may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or create derivative works from HelpHive's intellectual property.
20. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Platform and its services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.
HelpHive does not warrant that the Platform will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, accurate, or error-free.
HelpHive does not warrant or guarantee the conduct, qualifications, identity, reliability, availability, safety, or performance of any user.
HelpHive does not guarantee that a background check, verification process, profile, review, rating, or other information is complete or accurate.
Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot legally be excluded.
21. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, HelpHive and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, licensors, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to use of the Platform or services.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, HelpHive's total liability arising from or related to the Platform will not exceed the greater of:
The amount you paid to HelpHive during the twelve months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim; or
$100.
Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot legally be limited or excluded under applicable law.
22. Indemnification
To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless HelpHive and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, and service providers from claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising out of or related to:
Your use of the Platform.
Your violation of these Terms.
Your User Content.
Your interactions or transactions with another user.
Your violation of applicable law or the rights of another person.
23. Disputes
Before filing a formal legal claim, the parties agree to make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute by contacting HelpHive.
Nothing in this section prevents a user from contacting a government agency or exercising a legal right that cannot lawfully be waived.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, these Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
Any court proceeding permitted under these Terms will be brought in an appropriate court located in Florida, unless applicable law requires otherwise.
24. Changes to These Terms
HelpHive may update these Terms from time to time.
When material changes are made, HelpHive may provide notice through the Platform, email, or other reasonable means.
Your continued use of HelpHive after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms, to the extent permitted by law.
25. Termination
HelpHive may suspend or terminate access to the Platform when reasonably necessary to protect users, maintain the Platform, comply with law, address safety concerns, or enforce these Terms.
Users may stop using the Platform at any time.
Termination does not eliminate obligations that by their nature should continue after termination, including provisions relating to intellectual property, non-circumvention, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and disputes.
26. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect to the fullest extent permitted by law.
27. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with the HelpHive Privacy Policy and any additional terms presented for specific services, constitute the agreement between you and HelpHive regarding your use of the Platform.