Reasons to hire your own paid carer | You're the Boss

1. You’re the Boss Top Reasons to hire your own paid carer

2. When you have needs that require care and support, whether through age-related conditions or long- term disability, it can be hard to find and receive the care services that you want. Often care services can be limited by your area, local funding, access and so on, and they may not offer what you think would be best for you personally. Most people would prefer to stay at home as long as possible, so a good option is to receive care and support directly in the house. A paid carer can be a great solution, as they can be engaged to help with just the tasks that you need help with, and you can retain your independence in all other areas. A paid carer can be hired from an agency, but there is a growing number of individual employers who choose to take on their own paid carer as an employee so that they can get personalised care from someone they trust. Here are our top reasons why employing a paid carer, sometimes called a personal assistant, can benefit you: 1. The paid carer works for you This is important. When you employ a paid carer, they are your member of staff. This means that when you hire them, you can outline exactly what tasks you need completing and when, what your goals are in taking on an employee to help you out, and what you expect from them. They are contractually obliged to meet your requirements and you are in control of ensuring that you receive the care and support you are paying for.

3. 2. You can choose their hours With agencies, you may often be given a timeslot of when a carer will come to visit you. This may mean that you can’t get up in the mornings exactly when you would like, or you may be unable to have an exact schedule for your day. If you hire your own carer, you can give them their working hours and know they will always be there when you need them. 3. You can build up a relationship One of the problems with choosing an agency is that you may see more than one carer at a time, and it can be hard to build up a level of trust and companionship with a group of carers. When you hire your own carer, you can interview them and find exactly what you are looking for. You know that you will always see the same person and you can start to form a bond that will help with them undertaking personal care tasks. 4. Flexibility in tasks Your needs are very individual to you, but getting care that individual can be hard. By hiring someone, you can pick and choose which tasks you need help with and build up a contract that includes the kind of help that you need. So, if you need help getting ready in the morning and evening, but you are happy to get on with things during the day, you can hire a carer just to help with those tasks. 5. Build a team You don’t have to stop at one paid carer. Some people hire a couple to deal with different tasks. For example, you may need someone to help with personal care tasks, which could be a qualified paid carer with the right experience for your needs. But then you may also need help with the cooking, so you could hire someone to come in and prepare your meals, or do your cleaning, or help transport you to activities –it’s up to you! 6. Specialist help One of the things that you can look for when hiring your own paid carer is someone with experience in your particular condition. You can speak to previous clients or look for specific qualifications so that you know that you have the right person for the job. You are in control of the recruitment process, so you can tailor what you want in a paid carer.

4. 7. You manage the budget Paying for care can be expensive. Hiring a paid carer gives you the control over what you spend. You can offer an appropriate wage for the role and for just the hours that you need, which means that you can budget for your requirements and have no surprise bills. Don’t forget to budget for holiday and sickness pay. It can be overwhelming to think about being an employer, which does put people off picking this path. We have a detailed guide to becoming an employer, breaking down all your responsibilities. Once you have everything set up and in place, it is very straightforward and the benefits are huge. We also have a bundle of useful documents for employers of paid carers available in our Document Store.