Response:
I understand why you’d want to give a leg up to an excellent caregiver. At the same time, there’s a reason that agencies generally prohibit employees from asking clients for money in this way. You now have grounds for wondering whether the quality of care will be affected by your decision to give (or not to give) this person what he has asked for. Even if that’s far from this man’s intentions, this is the position you’re in. And agency agreements can bind clients as well as its employees; yours may restrict direct payments to caregivers.
As for calling your contribution an early holiday bonus? Relabeling wouldn’t necessarily obviate the fairness issue with respect to the other caregivers, who have respected the terms of the arrangement, some of them for years. Would $1,500 be on a par with what you pay others who have been with you for less than 12 months?
There’s a further question about the source of this generosity. Your father’s income pays for his care. Would the $1,500 also come from him? Your authority to manage his affairs is meant to let you spend his money for his benefit. A caregiver’s career advancement doesn’t obviously fit in that category.
Even if you wanted to help this man with your own money, you should be wary of making a substantial private payment that appears to violate the agency’s rules. You can continue to recognize his excellent work through the generous bonus system you already use, including taking his unusual reliability into account when you decide on the amount. You could also ask the agency whether it offers tuition assistance or would let clients contribute to caregiver training. If it does, you can help him openly. If it doesn’t, and having weighed all the considerations you still decide to contribute, pay the school directly; that will give you a record of where the money went. Whatever you do, let him know how much his reliability has meant to your family, and wish him well with his certification.