As the Employer it makes the most sense that you decide who you want to work for you. The best way to do this is to be involved in the interview process. Although most people choose to have support during the interview process from a friend, family member or support service Advisor, the final decision should be yours. For further guidance on interviewing tips, please contact your local support service.
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Generally the work of a PA is not classed as self-employed work under HMRC guidelines.
If the service that the PA wants to offer as a self-employed Personal Assistant involves personal or nursing care, you would need to register with CQC. If the service does not provide personal care or nursing care, but instead offer assistance with domestic tasks, laundry, shopping, cooking, companionship etc. do not need to register with CQC.
However, the following exemption from Scope of Registration mean that if you work for yourself on a self-employed basis and are working directly for service users, but don’t employ any staff and are paid directly by service users rather than through a centralised account and there is no other involvement in managing the care from an agency, registration would be exempt.
Where a person makes their own arrangement for nursing care or personal care, and the nurse or carer works for them without an agency or employer involved in managing or directing the care that the nurse or carer provides, the nurse or carer does not need to register for that service.
Individual user trusts, set up to make arrangements for nursing care or personal care on behalf of someone who lacks capacity to do it for themselves, are also exempt. This exemption is set out in a different set of regulations to the other issues covered in this guidance. See regulation 4(4) of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
Also exempt are organisations that only help people find nurses or carers (often known as introductory agencies) but do not have any role in managing or directing the care that a nurse or carer provides when an individual employs them for their care.’
In layman’s terms, a self-employed Personal Assistant does not have to register with CQC if they are just working for themselves but as soon as they employ someone to work for them to cover with a client(s) then they would need to register.
Under guidance from HMRC (the status team), a Personal Assistant cannot decide that they are self-employed or not, it is the responsibility of the Employer that would like to engage a PA to make the decision.
A PA cannot simply make a decision to be self-employed; this rests with the person engaging a service (the Employer).
If the service user makes the wrong decision and decides that a PA is self-employed and HMRC find out that the worker does not meet the criteria, the responsibility for tax, NI and penalties will be with the service user.
Adivce from HMRC is that before any contracts are given, the Employer should complete the online form or contact the status team on 0845 300 0627 to discuss whether or not the worker is likely to be employed or self-employed.
Due to the nature of the work and role of the PA it is unlikely that a Personal Assistant should be determined as self-employed by an Employer. The added complication is that if a service user decides that a Personal Assistant is self-employed because the PA will provide their own cover, then they will need to check CQC registration as this would indicate that the self-employed PA is employing another worker to cover.
Employers need to understand that they can use the tools to check status, but no one has got into trouble for deciding to employ someone but they have for engaging with a self-employed worker and it being determined that this was a wrong decision.
I know we stray away from it where possible anyway, due to a number of reasons, not to mention that we want to promote choice and control for individual employers, but thought the above may be helpful as it clarifies that a
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Firstly you will be asked to complete a brief registration form, and then select subscription period and method of payment. Payment can be made via credit or debit card (instant access) using the PayPal button (PayPal account not necessary), cheque payment (account will be active once cheque payment cleared), or via PayPal account (instant access). Once your registration/payment is submitted, employers need to complete an online job posting for your vacancy, you will be asked to complete a job description and person specification. This can be done by yourself, using the sample and amended accordingly to suit your needs, or with support from your local support service Advisor as dictated by you.
Potential employees will be able to view your job posting and contact any potential employers via the site using the communication tool. The employer should then contact the PA via the site using the communication tool to request further information or to arrange an interview.
You will also be able to sign into the web site and view the registered PAs details and application form and contact any potential employees via the site using the communication tool to arrange an interview or request further information.
Should you have any difficulty please contact [email protected]
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The person advertising the position is the Employer. All recruitment responsibilities lie with the Employer. North West Personal Assistance, Age UK Cheshire or Cheshire Centre for Independent Living are not a care recruitment agency. Any reference to ‘Employer’ refers to the individuals recruiting Personal Assistants.
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Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) have now merged, CRB checks are now called DBS checks..
Successful applicants may be asked to apply for a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service). A copy of the Code of Practice is available on request. Further information about the disclosure process can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check/overview/
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Because of the nature of the work for which you are applying, this post is exempt from the provision of Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offender Act 1974 by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions) order 1975.
Applicants are, therefore, not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are ‘spent’ under the provisions of the Act, and in the event of employment, any failure to disclose such convictions could result in dismissal or disciplinary action. Any information given will be completely confidential by the Employer and will be considered only in relation to an application for positions for which the order applies.
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The Employer will pay the cost of applying for a DBS on appointment. The employer can claim the cost for a DBS (as a legitimate recruitment expense) from your Direct Payments/Independent Living Fund account, where applicable.
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As a member with an active subscription, you will be able to sign into the web site and view the registered PAs details and application form and contact any potential employees via the site using the communication tool to arrange an interview or request further information.
Should you have any difficulty please contact [email protected]
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When you send a contact request the recipient will be notified to log in to their account and further communicate with you. From there you can ask any more questions you may have about the job at hand via your NWPA account.
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Signing up as an Employer is quick and easy. Simply fill in the form to the left, choose a subscription and then choose how you wish to pay. Once your payment has been processed you will have full access to your account area.
Please note that payments made by Cheques and through Local Authority can delay access by up to 5 working days, but any processing days will be added to your subscription period. All other payment methods will allow instant access to the site.
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Employers will need to pay a subscription over a period of 1 month, 3 months or 6 months. Longer periods of subscription are available on request if you believe you would benefit from this.
Some Local Authorities pay the subscription fee directly. If your Local Authority operates in this way they will inform you of this.
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Signing up as an Employer is quick and easy. Simply fill in the form to the left, choose a subscription and then choose how you wish to pay. Once your payment has been processed you will have full access to your account area.
Please note that payments made by Cheques and through Local Authority can delay access by up to 5 working days, but any processing days will be added to your subscription period. All other payment methods will allow instant access to the site.
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To renew your subscription simply log in to your account and you will see a red box with a link to renew your membership. Follow the steps and your renewal will be authorised upon payment.
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You can use any of the following methods to pay for your subscription;
Cheque
Paypal and Credit/Debit card
Local Authorities Payment
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It allows employers and PAs to communicate with each other via the site, without the need to share personal contact details. However, the effectiveness of the site is reliant on employers and PAs responding to any communication accordingly even if you are no longer interested in the PA/job posting. Equally, it is imperative that PAs ensure their application form details (ie availability/training) are up to date at all times.
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You are not required to log on to check that you have received any communication as you will receive an email from NWPA to inform you that you have received interest via the site. On receipt of the email, you will be required to log on to the site to respond accordingly. Although we request that employers and PAs respond to any communication even if this is to advise that they are no longer interested, it could be that the lack of response is simply due to apathy, which NWPA have no control over.
If you are not receiving any responses via the communication tool, please contact [email protected] for assistance.
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