Employing a carer

AskAsk

74jax said:

I'm guessing the carer will only be working for your mam? Do they only work for your mam via the care agency at the moment? 
How much does your mam pay the agency and how much does the carer get? Is £10 an hour worth it for the carer to leave a company who will cover all insurances etc? 
What happens if something happens to mam due to a fault of the carer, or the carer has an accident on your property, or is ill, or on holiday. Ask things your mam needs to consider.
If it's over 7 days. It's only an hour a day, I would push the carer to go self employed so they can also work for other people.
If your mam goes through social services in the future for attendance allowance these payments will be declared. 

the carer would be looking after more than one person through the agency.  she would be employed part time or full time by the agency and get a rota.  so if she works for the OP, she would probably still work for the agency and work for the OP on the side.  pocketing the cash payment as she would be paid minimum wage by the agency and £10ph cash is better than what she would get paid with the agency.

she wouldn't give up her job with the agency for just an hour of work a day with the OP.  and if she did, she would be doing other jobs to top up her income, so i think it will be safe to employ her on a self employed basis but as someone had said, the OP should check the agency agreement about stealing their staff.

RestlessOverDebt

Hi polgara
You are indeed right to be concerned. I appreciate the discussion between your mum and care worker would seem 'a good to go' straight forward arrangment. In reality it's not that simple.as information in these links demonstrate:
https://www.which.co.uk/later-life-care/home-care/organising-home-care/how-to-employ-private-carers-aszsg4j2q80m
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/employing-a-professional-carer-or-personal-assistant
Kind regards

[Deleted User]

polgara said:

Dox said:

What level of payment are we talking about?

Helpful: https://www.which.co.uk/later-life-care/home-care/organising-home-care/how-to-employ-private-carers-aszsg4j2q80m

£100 a week

Is that correct ? That is not a lot of money for a carers job - at £10 per hour that's going to be only up to 2 hours a day with your mum, yes ?
I'm presuming 1 hour twice a day ?
1-2 hours a day doesn't really get much done, in my opinion, i know this industry quite well and only a small amount of time doesn't go very far when it comes to housekeeping and personal care, plus any shopping and incidentals.

XYZ1000

I second reading the contract your Mum signed to find out if she could be sued for this. Could work out very costly if she doesn’t. 

superbigal

No one in their right mind would invoice (by the books) for only £10 an hour.   Good luck if the carer is happy.

AskAsk

superbigal said:

No one in their right mind would invoice (by the books) for only £10 an hour.   Good luck if the carer is happy.

they could just agree in writing that they are happy to receive payments on a self employed basis.  but to be honest cash in hand isn't that unusual if the OP doesn't mind just doing it as a cash in hand job.