Employing a carer

G_M

Hi
I'm looking for info on the pros/cons of emplying a full-time carer directly.

At present, elderly parent has a carer via an agency. We've identified a carer who would be considerably cheaper to employ ourselves, but wary of any legal requirements eg tax, NI, insurance, H&S, training etc etc

What would we have to learn/do?

Via agency, we just pay the fee and get the service. Employing direct......?

Cyclamen

Hello..

your local council should be able to help with payroll etc to make things easier ..

If you are a 'self funder' i think this is still available

getting insurance is vital.. there are soem schemes specifically for employing carers that also have free legal advice if you need it.. my county uses 'fish'

you would need to consider holiday pay, sickness cover (the insurance may help with this), tax .. i am registered as an employer with hmrc and they have been really helpful as i got in a complete muddle..

local councils/charities often run free training sessions for carers

I only really know the system for 'social services funded'.. they helped me advertise, interview and then set up payroll etc, calculated holiday pay etc etc..

how would the person you are looking at feel about going self employed.. that is the easier route for you as they can invoice you then.. but it only works if you are sure they are tax registered and working for other clients .

i strongly suggest you phone your council they usually have a charity attached who will help with advice, leaflets, contracts etc etc .. and they can get you started

G_M

Thanks. Will try the council, though they've been pretty useless so far. Will try AgeUK too.

nannytone_2

i receive direct payments for a PA and use the services of a payroll company combined with a managed account so that i know everything is being done properly and that i have no personal access to the funds.
they charge about £12 per month.
be aware that you will also need liability insurance if you choose to employ a carer independantly

Savvy_Sue

one advantage an agency would stress to you is that they will find an alternative if 'your' carer is ever unwell or on holiday. How critical is the need? If the carer is unexpectedly unable to work, how much would that matter?

cattermole

Employing a carer direct is the same whether you self fund or our a DP recipient in terms of responsibilities as an employer.

Most Councils use a separate Support Agency (for DP) but most would support a self funder for a small fee, the quality of support they offer varies vastly. Payroll is easily put out to a third party who will run your payroll for you.

You will need to register with the Inland Revenue as an employer to get your employers PAYE reference even if you use a 3rd party. This is pretty straight forward and they are better than they used to be when you explain why you are doing it and it will not be a business.

All employees need a Contract of Employment and again Support Services can help with this.

You also need to have Insurance for Employer Liability, there are specialist companies that specialise in this but FISH are the best, they also offer an extended policy which covers employment issues and a 24 hour helpline in this regard.

All tax and NI is paid to HMRC if you use a 3rd party to manage, they can do this on your behalf.

You need to pay all employees 28 days holiday per annum (pro rata) and employers NI contributions if they earn over the NI threshold. You will also now have to offer a private pension from 1st June 2015. Again a Support Service should be able to help with this.

So if for example you paid your carer £7.50 an hour depending on how many hours a week, you would need to allow around £2.50 per hour for other expenses like Payroll, NI Employer's Contributions, Insurance and Holiday pay.

There are many benefits to employing direct but it does bring with it responsibilities, you could still use an agency for holiday or sickness cover or as required.

The other thing that can be difficult is balancing employing some one you know and that employer/employee relationship.

Any queries please ask as I'm an ex DP Support Worker and managed and ran a DP for over 8 years on behalf of my daughter employing 6 carers. I did my own payroll and I know others that do, it is fairly straight forward with the HMRC on-line programme but it isn't something to be taken on if you feel you can't manage it and most people use a 3rd party payroll.

cattermole

Meant to say re H&S FISH also (or they used to) provide a pack to help you with this), which you can go through with the Carer. A Home Risk Safety Pack I think it was called.

Yes you do have obligations regarding H&S as any employer does. Training does not have to be say NVQ's or anything like that. But for example if the job involved lifting you would need to be sure that they had done a lifting and handling course of some kind. Again these can be arranged privately at not too high cost. Making sure the right equipment is in place etc. is important, and that the Carer knows how to use the equipment correctly. But it isn't too much of a concern as long as you are sensible and don't ask Carer's to do something that is putting them or the person being cared for at risk.

RevTimms

Is there not something in the agency agreement that says you cannot do this? I ask because when we were having the same dilemma a couple of years ago we saw something like this in the contract with the agency.