Self employed 24 hour Carer needing some advice

Tizzy30

This is my first post so sorry for the spelling/grammar. Background - i'm self employed looking after my Grandmother so that's 24 hour care. Her care needs have significantly increased during the year that I've been looking after her. If she was to go into a home she would need nursing care.

I took over from a care company that provided the service when her normal carer went back to Hungary. I am in a difficult situation as I'm dealing with family to sort anything out and up until this point it has all been fine.

I am coming up to a year now and have been offered the opportunity work in 3 different situations, all continuing as self employed and very flexible to my situation allowing me to remain my Grans main carer but also being able to advance my skills.

The issue is and the question I'm asking is this. My Gran now can't be safely left for any length of time on her own due to her care needs. As part of the original agreement I am supposed to have 2 hours off a day. When she is Ill this dose not happen. I have now organised a care company to come in once a week to give me a 4 hour break which equate to two days of my time off which my Gran pays for. However, I am now wanting to pursue these other avenues and have asked that I now have 3 hours off a day mon - fri which are covered by either the care company or other carers that are working with us. Am I right that as self employed I am within my rights to dictate my time off? It has also been suggested that it is up to me to provide and pay for the cover being self employed. This however dose not seam right as surely it is up to the client to provide the care that is needed while the self employed person is off? It is not a company providing a service that needs to be maintained. I have also sourced and managed the people that will be coming in so I've done that part, its just the payment side I'm think i shouldn't be involved with. (The cover that will be coming in are paid more than me doing the job and for the work i'll be doing in my time off so I'd be paying to go and work somewhere else, similar to paying for child care I guess)

Any help much appreciated.

elsien

If she needs nursing care, are you a nurse and if not, how is this being provided?

If you're wanting to work less hours for your grandmother, then obviously you would be paid less and that would cover the extra care being provided. I can't see any reason at all why you would be paying for it yourself. You've done yourself no favours by not taking time off when it's due, as you've set a bit of a precedent.

What's the arrangement at the moment when you take time off for holiday, or are off sick? Or just need a break?
It does sound in practice as if you're self employed in name only right now.

antrobus

Tizzy30 wrote: »

...

I have also sourced and managed the people that will be coming in so I've done that part, .

You might well need to be licensed by the CCQ for that.

If you carry out a regulated activity without being registered, you will be committing an offence, and you could be fined and/or imprisoned.

https://www.gov.uk/registration-of-domiciliary-care-agencies-england

sangie595

Tizzy30 wrote: »

This is my first post so sorry for the spelling/grammar. Background - i'm self employed looking after my Grandmother so that's 24 hour care. Her care needs have significantly increased during the year that I've been looking after her. If she was to go into a home she would need nursing care.

I took over from a care company that provided the service when her normal carer went back to Hungary. I am in a difficult situation as I'm dealing with family to sort anything out and up until this point it has all been fine.

I am coming up to a year now and have been offered the opportunity work in 3 different situations, all continuing as self employed and very flexible to my situation allowing me to remain my Grans main carer but also being able to advance my skills.

The issue is and the question I'm asking is this. My Gran now can't be safely left for any length of time on her own due to her care needs. As part of the original agreement I am supposed to have 2 hours off a day. When she is Ill this dose not happen. I have now organised a care company to come in once a week to give me a 4 hour break which equate to two days of my time off which my Gran pays for. However, I am now wanting to pursue these other avenues and have asked that I now have 3 hours off a day mon - fri which are covered by either the care company or other carers that are working with us. Am I right that as self employed I am within my rights to dictate my time off? It has also been suggested that it is up to me to provide and pay for the cover being self employed. This however dose not seam right as surely it is up to the client to provide the care that is needed while the self employed person is off? It is not a company providing a service that needs to be maintained. I have also sourced and managed the people that will be coming in so I've done that part, its just the payment side I'm think i shouldn't be involved with. (The cover that will be coming in are paid more than me doing the job and for the work i'll be doing in my time off so I'd be paying to go and work somewhere else, similar to paying for child care I guess)

Any help much appreciated.

Actually, you aren't self-employed. So someone here is breaking the law! Self-employed people do not need to ask anyone permission to dictate their own working hours, can sub-contact their work to anyone they wish, and, most importantly, are not under the control of an employer. That is clearly not the case here. Your family, or some individual(s) within that group are controlling your hours of work and other issues, and are therefore exercising control. They employ you. There is nothing even remotely lawful about this arrangement. They should have employers liability insurance, they should be paying employers NI, they should be observing the working time directives, minimum wage regulations.... I could go on but it would take an hour to list just the things that they obviously aren't doing that they should be doing.

This arrangement puts them and you at terrible risk, legally and in respect of health and safety. It needs to end, and you need to, as a family, discuss your grandmother's needs and how best to meet them. You are being exploited by your family. This is wrong.