Being Employed as a PA by a Family Member

It is possible for a Personal Assistant (PA) to be employed by a family member to provide care and support to them. However, this is still seen as an ‘exceptional circumstance’, which means it wouldn’t normally happen unless it is for specific reasons.

The legislation highlights the circumstances where it would be possible to employ a family member, provided the Local Authority (Council) also agrees to this. These circumstances are:

• The family member, direct payment user and the Council all agree to the family member providing the support
• The family member is capable of providing the support and
• There are specific reasons why a family member is best placed to provide the support

The specific reasons relating to the employment of a family member

These specific reasons include:

• There is a limited choice of service providers who could provide the support
• The person needing care and support has specific communication needs which mean it will be difficult for another person to provide the support
• The support is required at times at which the family member will be available to provide it and where other people would not reasonably be able to
• The intimate nature of the support required makes it preferable for a family member to provide this
• The person needing support has religious or cultural beliefs which it preferable for support to be provided by a family member
• The person needing support requires palliative care
• The person needing support has an emergency or short-term need for care
• There are other factors in place which make it appropriate, in the opinion of the Council, for that family member to provide the support

Other considerations

If you are considering whether you would like to provide paid support as a PA to another family member, there are some other questions to think about, such as:

• Are you willing and able to provide the support the person needs?
• Would being employed by your family member change your relationship with them?
• What if something went wrong, would you be able to raise any concerns you had with your family member?
• If you were employed by your family member and then changed your mind about providing paid support, would you feel able to bring your employed role to an end?

Things you could do if you are considering becoming a PA for a family member

1. Have a discussion with your family member to see if this would be right for both of you
2. Speak to your local Independent SDS Information and Support organisation for guidance on this
3. In agreement with your family member, speak with any Social Worker currently involved to see if they would support the employment of family members and how to go about arranging this
4. In discussion with your family member, check to see if there is a contingency plan in place to manage unexpected changes to their support and when you might be employed as a family member

Next steps

Take a look at the resource available below on Direct Payments to guide you in more detail.