Things To Consider

When you’re employing a PA there are a number of key things to think about to ensure that you get the right person for the role, bringing you the most benefits.

The information in this section highlights the key areas to consider.

Think about what you most need help with.

Make a list of all the things that you need help with, including daily living tasks and support required to allow you to continue with social activities.

The funding required for this support will depend on the activities listed so it is important to be honest.

If you’re using a health, social care or access to work grant to pay for your PA the funding can only be used to meet the needs identified and agreed on in your assessment.

If you’re using your health grant or your own money (to top up or completely fund the support), you have much more flexibility and can think about what support you would like your PA to help you with, such as managing your garden, household tasks, or walking your dog.

Think about what it means to be an employer

Being an employer means you have the choice and control over who you employ, the support they provide and when they provide it; giving you the flexibility to suit your needs.

However, there are some mandatory requirements and 'best practices'  to be used when employing someone, even when they are working in your home.

There are a number of legal requirements you’ll need to adhere to, so you need to be aware of what they are before you take them on.

Legal Responsibilities As An Employer

Pay and Tax

Payroll can seem complicated, but there are many organisations that can advise and support you to do it, or provide the service for you. Often your local Direct Payment (DP),or Centre for Independent Living (CIL) organsiation will do this and there are national services such as DD payroll Service, which specialise in payroll for people employ PAs, care and support staff.

The Direct Payment Support services can help you with information, advice and support on all aspects of your direct payments, from how you’d like to use it – what options you have, through to finding a PA and understanding your legal responsibilities as an employer as well as supporting you with the paperwork. Each local authority provides this support differently, some provide it directly from a team within social services, whilst others arrange for an independent support service to provide this. You social worker or care manager should direct you to this support when discussing direct payments with you. If they don’t please let us know and we can find out for you who provides this in your area.

As an employer you need to fulfil your employee’s statutory rights, paying their tax and national insurance, statutory sick pay, maternity pay and work place pension. The advisors mentioned above can help with this.

Health & Safety

It’s your responsibility to ensure your PAs are safe whilst working for you. You will also need to have both employer’s liability insurance (as you are responsible if your PA has an accident or is injured whilst working for you) and public liability insurance (in case your PA causes injury to someone or damages someone’s property).

Sometimes this type of insurance is already inculded within your home policy, but, if not, companies like Fish Insurance or March Commercial insurance, can help. There are lots of similar companies who provide this. They can also provide HR (Human resource) and employment law support and advice, and contract of employment templates.

There are lots of elements to health and safety and you can find the full details on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website and in the Skills for Care toolkit. 

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  • Clear Information and Employment Processes

Having the following information and processes in place will make you a good employer and will also make life a lot easier for you:

- clear job descriptions
- contracts of employment
- robust recruitment and payroll systems.

Support To Help Get You Started As An Employer

There’s lots of support available to help you with all of this, from templates for job descriptions and employment contracts, to organisations who run your payroll for you.

To get started take a look at our Employing A PA section for more detailed information.

For inspiration read Simone's story below, and you can see other beneficiary experiences of employing Personal Assistants here.

 

Personal Experience – Simone’s Story

Read Simone’s story to find out how she went about getting a PA