Employing a carer and working as a carer...
When you employ a carer, or when you work as a carer, you are entering a real job, and although the setting can often seem informal, there are real, legal requirements that apply to both the employer and employee.
To ensure that you are working within the law, both as an employer and employee, CarePair has put together the following five important points to get you started:
1) Employment of young workers;
There are special laws to protect the employment rights of young
workers. These concern health and safety, what jobs they can do,
when they can work, and how many hours they can work. These laws are very
strict and an employer can be prosecuted for breaking them.
More information can be found here.
2) Minimum Wage;
In the UK there are national minimum wage rates that apply to workers. All employers must pay at least the national minimum wage, as of April 2018 these are;
Workers who are 25 and over - £7.83 per hour
Workers who are 21 to 24 - £7.38 per hour
Workers who are 18 to 20 - £5.90 per hourWorkers who are under 18 - £4.35 per hour
Please note any employer or carer advertising below these rates will be suspended as it is a legal requirement, they will be reinstated when they meet these statutory minimum amounts.
3) All employees should have a contract;
As both an employer and worker, you should know your rights and responsibilities within the job. All jobs should be described in a contract, which both the employer and the employee should sign. Each person should keep a copy of the contract.
A sample contract can be downloaded here in word format, it is free to use and can be edited to suit your needs, the red words are the basic details you need to change to make the contract suit your role.
4) Statutory rights;
All roles are subject to statutory employment rights, these cover things like sick pay, holiday pay, maternity pay and work rights. All jobs advertised on CarePair must conform to these basic rights.
Further details of Statutory Rights can be found here.
5) Employer’s Liability Insurance
You must have this insurance in place before your employees start work for you. It covers you against:
- your personal assistant injuring themselves while helping you
- a third party being injured as a result of something you or your personal assistant do
- accidental damage to a third party’s property for which you or your personal assistant might be liable
- the cost of defence if you were issued with criminal proceedings following a breach of Health and Safety at Work Act (1974)
Some some insurance policies come with Employers Liability Insurance, but it is your duty as an employer to make sure it is in place.
Please note that as users of CarePair, it is your duty to ensure that jobs posted and worked conform to the basic employment laws.
Any employer or carer found to be breaching basic employment laws will be suspended, and contacted to review the roles they have posted or agreed to work. Once the violating role has been amended, the user account will be reinstated.
If you experience any violations or would like any advice please contact info@carepair.co.uk.