Using a Direct Payment to Employ Personal Assistants:
In England, the rules governing the provision of social care for adults can be found in the Care Act 2014. In Wales it’s the Well Being Act, and Scotland, the SDS Act. All three pieces of legislation promote the use of Direct Payments as a mechanism to provide personalised care and support to people with assessed, unmet, social care needs.
Chapter 12 of the Care Act Statutory guidance covers Direct Payments (DP) and confirms that, “DP are the Governments preferred mechanism for personalised care and support…they provide independence, choice and control by enabling people to commission their own care and support to meet their eligible needs”
It goes on to say that DPs are, “designed to be used flexibly and innovatively and there should be no unreasonable restriction placed on the use of the payment, as long as it is being used to meet [eligible] care and support needs.”
Direct Payments are also available for disabled children and carers across the UK. In England, people in receipt of continuing healthcare packages from the NHS can also have a DP, with the same emphasis on flexibility and outcome driven support.
Many DP recipients use the money they receive to employ a Personal Assistant to provide the support they need in a personalised way. Becoming an employer can be empowering and enable more choice and control over the way your support is provided. It is not for everyone however, being an employer involves accepting new responsibilities and legal obligations.
Payroll Support for Individual Employers:
Direct Payment recipients should have enough money allocated to them in their DP budget to meet their legal obligations. As an individual employer, you are likely to need support setting up and managing your payroll from an accountant or payroll provider like DH payroll. You will also need to purchase appropriate insurance like the Home Employment policy provided by Mark Bates Ltd.
Insurance for Individual Employers:
The Home Employment (HE) Insurance policy from Mark Bates Ltd (MBL) has been designed to cover individual employers to meet their legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance (ELI). ELI covers employers if a PA is injured while working for them and MBL provides up to £10m EL cover as standard, whatever level of HE policy a customer decides to take. They also provide a customer portal where you will find all your policy paperwork stored electronically for ease of use alongside great high street discounts and benefits available to you and your PA(s).
The HE policy also includes a host of additional covers such as damage to employers possessions, redundancy cover and personal accident, click here for more details.
Legal Advice and Guidance From ILG Support:
One of the most valuable aspects of the Home Employment policy from MBL is the advice and guidance provided by ILG Support.
ILG Support provide a 24/7 dedicated advice helpline and email service to help you to manage your employment responsibilities. Whatever you might need, anytime of day, ILG Support are on hand to help. Contracts of employment, advice around pay rates, right up to the trickier situations if your PA does something you are not happy with for example, you can count on ILG Support for help.
Network of Support:
MBL and ILG Support work closely with Direct Payment support organisations and payroll providers such as DH payroll. They are also a headline sponsor, alongside DH Payroll, of the Direct Payment Forum – a network of Direct Payments professionals supporting and sharing good practice in the delivery and support available for DP recipients, for over 20 years.
Peer Support from the ILG Community:
Mark Bates Ltd and DH Payroll strongly encourage DP recipients to join the ILG Community. The ILG Community is a national peer support group for anyone employing a PA. By joining the group, you will have easy access to ILG Support guidance notes, the ILG podcasts and much more. You will also be invited to join the Individual employer Facebook group to link in with other people employing PAs across the country.
The ILG Community wants to create a space for Personal Assistant Employers to share experiences, get support and unite their voices to help shape health and care Services.
The community is growing, feel free to join and see for yourself by clicking here.