Direct payments
Employing staff
We recommend that personal assistants should be employed directly by you. Here your
responsibilities are clear and flexibility is maintained. We do not recommend that you use selfemployed care workers. We have been advised by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
that they now consider almost all personal assistants to be employed, not self-employed for tax
purposes.
Clear guidance on employment status is contained in leaflets ES/FS1 (aimed at workers) and ES/
FS2 (aimed at employers/engagers) and can be found online on the Her Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs (HMRC) website www.HMRC.gov.uk
The quickest way of getting HMRC’s view on whether a personal assistant is employed or selfemployed is to use the online employment status Indicator tool (ESI) at
www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status
If you are unable to use this tool and are unsure of the personal assistant’s employment status
you can call the HMRC status customer service team on 0300 123 2326 option 1, 9am to 5pm,
Monday to Friday, except bank holidays.
It is essential that the employment status of your personal assistant is clarified at the outset and that
you have written confirmation of their registration with HMRC. For the purposes of tax and national
insurance, you are responsible for correctly deciding whether a personal assistant is employed or
self employed. If HMRC decides that you are the employer (even when the worker has registered
with HMRC as self employed) you will be liable to pay the backdated tax, national insurance and
employer’s national insurance.
As a general rule, if you use a self employed personal assistant/support worker you should expect
them to:
• Produce invoices quoting their HRMC registration number to request payment from you for the
specific services they have provided
• Produce a contract agreeing the terms and conditions of the support provided, prices charged/
cost of service, which would be mutually agreed by you, including when and where to undertake
the work
• Arrange their own cover for public liability insurance and where needed employers liability
insurance
• Have a unique reference number given to them by HMRC and documentation stating they are self
employed, providing you with the written evidence of both of this
• Be responsible for arranging their own tax, national insurance and general accounts
• Provide their own equipment (unless agreed otherwise in the contract agreement)
• Provide the service to more than one person
• Advertise their service in local publications
For further information you may find the following link useful:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/esmmanual
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Employing your own personal assistant/s
If you choose to directly employ your own personal assistant you will have a number of
responsibilities as an employer and need to make sure that you are a good, competent employer.
This should not worry you, though, as detailed and ongoing support and advice can be provided by
your chosen support provider.
As an employer you will be responsible for:
• Writing a job description and advertising to recruit staff
• The personal assistant’s terms and conditions of employment and contract of employment
which should state the trial period and notice terms. This will cover rates of pay (no less than the
minimum wage) and working hours. You will also need to arrange a payroll system to pay regular
wages, arrange tax, national insurance (if applicable) and holiday cover
• Arranging employers liability and public liability insurance
• Deciding and directing what you want the personal assistant to do, when, where and how
• Arranging any training staff may need
• Thinking about what you will do when the personal assistant takes holiday, is sick or needs
unplanned time off work
• Providing equipment and materials for staff where necessary
• Making sure that you keep safe when advertising, recruiting and interviewing
• Providing a pension, if necessary, for your personal assistant
Help with all of these responsibilities is available from support providers. Although they can look
daunting at first lots of expert help is available and many of them will soon become a matter of
routine.
Recruiting personal assistants
When recruiting staff, you need to think about advertising for them
and interviewing them.
There is some really useful guidance on recruiting staff from Skills
for Care in the personal assistant directory within the Dudley
Community Information Directory (details of this directory are
listed in the useful contacts section at the back of this fact sheet).
The directory includes a list of PAs looking for work, you can also
advertise your vacancy. The PAs listed have not, however, been
vetted so it is important that you follow up two written references.
As part of the recruitment process it is also vital that you make sure a Disclosure and Barring Service
(DBS) check is completed for anyone that you are considering employing (including people you
already know). Although these checks don’t give a guarantee of trustworthiness they provide a
sensible precaution.
If there are no children under 16 in your household the DBS check will be funded from your personal
budget. If there are children under 16 living in the property, Dudley Council will fund and arrange
the DBS check free of charge and permission will be given to employ the person concerned by the
Council. The only exception is if a person considered of being employed is a family member.
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As part of the recruitment process you should also check that anyone you are considering
employing is able to work legally in the UK. Your support provider can help you do this.
Alternatively, The Home Office guidance document ‘Prevention of illegal working’ for employers
gives guidance on what you must do. This is available from the Home Office on 0300 123 4699.
You must not employ anyone who is not legally able to work in the UK.
The Dudley Community Information Directory is a helpful resource you can use when looking for
a personal assistant. The directory includes a personal assistant directory which lists a number of
personal assistants living locally. It also contains fact sheets and information and advice on using
personal assistants. Visit www.dudleyci.co.uk
Employing personal assistants legally
You need to make sure that you employ staff legally, on a formal employment basis. They must
be provided with a contract of employment and be paid through a payroll system. This will involve
signing timesheets and sending them to a payroll service provider (our support providers offer
this service). You must then pay your staff the net amount (taking off tax and national insurance
deductions, plus pension deduction if applicable) usually every four weeks. Your payroll service
provider can advise how much is owed to the Inland Revenue each month. You must also make sure
that you register with HM Revenue and Customs as an employer.
You will need to keep a record of all bank statements (from the care bank account), wages records,
timesheets, invoices and Inland Revenue records.
At the outset your support provider can help you work out how much you can afford to pay your
staff, taking tax, national insurance, sickness pay and pension if applicable plus holiday pay into
consideration.
As an employer you need to be aware of working time regulations and make sure that any staff you
employ don’t exceed these.
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Your health and safety responsibilities - as an
employer
As an employer you need to make sure that any staff you employ are not at risk of being harmed or
injured through poor health and safety practice.
If is particularly important that you understand the implications of any moving and handling tasks
that you expect your staff to perform.
It is advised that you arrange for a risk assessment to take place. Your support provider can arrange
for you to attend a risk assessor’s course, or they can undertake the risk assessment on your
behalf, or advise you of online training courses. A useful booklet ‘Risk assessment’ available from
the Health and Safety Executive can also be requested from your support provider. In addition, your
support provider can discuss the risk assessment with you and help you understand what action
you may need to take to ensure a safe working environment. It is good practice to share copies of
any risk assessments with your staff and to always comply with recommendations advised by them
- failing to do so can affect your liability as an employer.
Risk assessments should be repeated each year and also where there is any change to the tasks
expected of staff.
If moving and handling is an issue your social worker will let you know if you need to organise a
separate moving and handing assessment. They can then arrange this, as can the council’s access
team. This assessment will provide you with written recommendations and the assessors should
then be notified of the start date for your staff so that they can visit and show the staff how to move
and handle safely from day one.
Training issues
As part of being a good employer you need to think about any training that your personal
assistant may need (the law requires employers to provide their staff with information, training and
supervision). Your support provider can help you to think this through. We strongly recommend that
you identify your own training needs so that you can provide some formal guidance and training to
your personal assistant.
At the outset it is useful to share your support plan with new care staff, so they are aware of your
needs and the support that has been laid down as a requirement.
You need to make sure any staff you employ are able to carry out the tasks you expect of them and
do not put you or themselves at risk of being injured. It is, therefore, particularly important that you
and your staff understand the implications of any moving and handling tasks expected of them.
Insurance companies state that they will only pay out if the personal assistant is trained in moving
and handling by an appropriate trainer. Therefore, if your personal assistant is supporting you with
any moving and handling tasks then they will need to have moving and handling training.
A handbook of suggested training is available from our support providers and they can discuss this
with you. Training is available from a number of training providers and may also be available via the
council. Your direct payments support service provider can assist with identifying courses such as:
• First aid
• Infection control
• Food hygiene
• Administration of medication
• Health and safety
• Other specialist courses such as diabetes, dementia awareness, autism etc.
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We insist that all personal assistants attend adult safeguarding training within 12 weeks, and child
protection training as well if there are any children under sixteen living with you. We will ask to see
evidence of its completion.
When considering your own training needs, we strongly recommend that you attend the council’s
safeguarding training which is free of charge. Courses are also available on employment matters and
your support provider can advise on these, along with other options that may suit your needs.
Lots of useful information on training issues is available from Skills for Care www.skillsforcare.org.uk. This information includes common induction standards for personal
assistants, details of the QCF level three diploma in health and social care for those working as
personal assistants and information on help with training costs from the Workforce Development
Fund. In addition, details of the government’s personalisation briefing and its implications for
personal assistants can be found at www.scie.org.uk/publications/ataglance/ataglance14.asp
You can apply to Skills for care to get money for training for both yourself and your personal
assistant. This money is called individual employer funding.
Insurances
If you employ people you are legally required to have insurance. Accidents can happen and a
member of your staff could blame you for an accident and hold you responsible. You will need
employer’s liability insurance and public liability insurance - these can sometimes be included on
a comprehensive household policy. These insurances must be in place before any care staff start
working for you. The cost of insurance will be included within your personal budget. Your direct
payments support service provider can assist with this.
Employer’s liability insurance
If your employee is injured whilst working for you and you are held legally liable this insurance will
protect you - covering your legal costs and any compensation.
Public liability insurance
This will insure you against any damages or injury caused to
someone by you or your personal assistant - whilst they are
working for you.
Car insurance
If your personal assistant is providing transport for you in
their vehicle they will need to make sure that they take out the
appropriate car insurance cover. Your personal assistant will need
to contact their insurance company and request business cover;
they will then need to show you a copy of this.
If your personal assistant is driving your vehicle you must make
sure they are added onto your insurance policy.
Your support provider can give you advice on insurances required.
Agreeing priorities with staff
Before your personal assistant starts working for you, you should agree your priorities with them.
They should have been provided with a contract of employment and a job description which makes
their role clear but other priorities will need to be discussed. Explain clearly what you want them to
do and how. Make sure you also explain your expectations regarding:
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• Their help accompanying you out and about - including payment for any visits you make to places
• Their help accompanying you to visit people’s homes
•Smoking
• If they are to be allowed to do their own shopping or attend to personal business whilst working
for you
When they do start work for you, a first day checklist can be useful to clarify these issues.
Supervising staff
It is important that any staff are properly supervised and that regular reviews of their work take
place. Make sure that you sit down on a regular basis (perhaps every three months) to discuss
what is going well, anything that needs improving, training needs and any specific issues such as
timekeeping or holiday requests. You should keep a brief written record of these meetings.
You should encourage your personal assistant to raise any concerns or issues of their own at these
meetings so that you can resolve them.
Managing professional boundaries with staff
A personal assistant can end up feeling more like a friend than an employee. This can be a good
thing and means that you work well together. It can however make things difficult when problems or
issues arise and different expectations can cause conflict.
It is important when you employ staff to think clearly about where the boundaries are in your
relationship with them. Think about how you will make these boundaries clear and what you will do if
they are not adhered to.
When your personal assistant starts working for you discuss with them how you like things done and
what you find acceptable and unacceptable. Also discuss what you want in terms of privacy and the
balance you require between independence and support.
Make sure your personal assistant knows that all information about you, your family and your
domestic and personal life is strictly confidential and should not be discussed with anyone else
without your permission, or in an emergency. You may like to include information in the employment
contract that states that disclosing this information is a disciplinary matter.
Similarly make sure that issues relating to your money are clear. If you require your personal
assistant to shop for you or visit the cashpoint always make sure that they know you must be
provided with a receipt. Keep your own money and bank details secure (never let your personal
assistant become a signatory on any bank account or to become your appointee). Also never lend
money to a member of staff or advance wages to them and don’t borrow money from them.
Addressing problems with staff
The purpose of your direct payments are to give you control over who provides your support, when
and how. If you don’t feel in control and are unhappy with your staff, then your direct payments are
not working effectively. If this is the case, you need to seek help to regain control.
You have the right to complain using the council’s complaints procedure. If you are unhappy about
your care assessment or advice the council has provided, please talk to your social worker in the
first instance. You can also contact the councils Social Care Complaints Team for advice. You can
contact the team at:
Adult Social Care Quality and Complaints Team
Telephone: 01384 812417 or 814724
e-mail: [email protected]
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Useful contacts
Dudley Council - access team
Tel - 0300 555 0055
Dudley Council Dudley Safeguarding Adults Board
Tel - 0300 555 0055
Dudley Community Information Directory
Tel - 01384 812965
www.dudleyci.co.uk
email - [email protected]
Skills for Care
www.skillsforcare.org.uk/individualemployers
HM Revenue and Customs
New employers helpline
Tel - 0845 6070143
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Other publications in this series
Direct payments, to meet your social care needs
Direct payments fact sheet - using a care agency/other services
Keeping adults safe
Support for carers
A guide to adult social care and support in Dudley
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