Being a Good Employer

Training

Once you are an employer, you might want to consider the training needs for both you and your P.A.  For example, the National Centre for Independent Living recommends that every disabled person should have knowledge of safe lifting techniques.  You can organise the training courses yourself.

A useful forum for discussing training needs is a Peer Support Group. They will be able to advise you on the courses they have found beneficial.  

You can contact your local Skills for Work for information on local training providers. If you think other training would be useful for your PA , you could contact your employment advisor who will be able to assist you with this.

Supervision

It is up to you how you supervise your P.A.’s.  It is useful to have a forum by which you and your P.A. discuss any issues that may arise. Supervision doesn’t have to be anything too formal. It might be just making space for a chat every now and then.  Having a time for supervisions can prevent any issues becoming a grievance.

If you can deal with problems as they occur, minor things will not build up into big issues. Some ideas for good supervision are listed below:

Ø Try and keep it as positive as possible, affirming all the things your P.A. is doing well

Ø Have a set period to talk things over

Ø Have an agenda of items to talk through and try and keep to it

Ø Make sure there are no distractions

Ø You might want to have it at a neutral place

Ø Focus upon the P.A.’s work, and their conduct.

Ø If there are any issues, make some actions for yourself and the P.A. to work through.

Ø Agree a brief written record of what was said and the actions.  Keep a copy for yourself and give one to your P.A.

Should your P.A. become ill…

Ø If you have another P.A., contact them to see if they can cover and do overtime. Try and maintain contact with personal assistants that have worked for you and who have left.

Ø You could phone Care Agencies  to arrange cover. It is good foresight to make contact with an agency as soon as you have recruited. This will make it easier when you need to use them as they will know what you need, and you will have had the chance to ask questions and check the agency out.

Ø Phone your employer support service.  Although the support service cannot arrange cover on your behalf they may have some ideas or may be able to liaise with the Independent Living Service (ILS) to see if they have anyone available.

Ø If all else fails, contact the social services duty social worker on 01432 260000.

Should your P.A. go on holiday…

Ø The P.A. has to give you adequate notice before they go on holiday. You may want to note this in the contract. You need time to arrange cover. You can do this by using the same procedure should your PA go off sick.

Ø You may want to ask your P.A to take some Annual Leave at your convenience. You may go on your own holiday, or you may ask them to take it should you go into hospital. Again, you may like to make provision for this in the contract of employment. You may wish to use a standard holiday leave entitlement form from your employer support service.

Should your P.A. leave…

Ø If your P.A. leaves, you may need to recruit again.  However, there might have been a previous applicant who you were impressed by but didn’t employ.  It could be worth contacting them to see if they are still interested in the position of P.A. If you are using our contract of employment your P.A. should give you a weeks notice in the first 3 months employment and following that 4 weeks notice.

Health and Safety

Health and safety affects everyone. When we boil a kettle we take care not to scald ourselves. When we use bleach we take care not to get any on our skin. This is taking responsibility for our own health and safety.

When a Personal Assistant (PA) comes into your home you both take on extra responsibilities.

·     It is your responsibility to provide a healthy and safe workplace for your PA, and not to do anything, or ask them to do anything, which may cause them injury or make them ill.

·     It is your PA’s duty not to do anything which might endanger either you or their safety at any time.

Putting health and safety measures in place doesn’t have to be expensive, time-consuming or complicated; safer working practices actually save money and reduces harm to people’s health.

Simply recording any worries of concerns and how you will overcome them is a good way of showing as an employer that you are trying to work safely with your PA.

And Finally…

Hopefully this guide has gone some of the way in enabling you to become a good employer.

This guide was created by a local Employers Support Service and welcomes input into the scheme and ideas in every stage of recruiting so please feed back any ideas or suggestions for any part of this process.

As well as the advice enclosed there is enclosed a list of useful names and addresses for you to contact.

Although you are responsible for the employment of your P.A., remember that the personal assistance is to support you to live independently, it is there to meet your needs.

It is a hard balancing act meeting your own needs and those of your personal assistant, but it is possible to work well and successfully. And it is something that you can control.