PA Employers Employment Responsibilities

Personal Assistant (PA) employers have a number of responsibilities relating to their employees, from recruitment and on-going support of PAs, to keeping their information safe.

Responsibilities as an employer include

To recruit people fairly and do not discriminate against anyone. This includes taking up of references and applying for a PVG check
Having a contingency plan in place to cover for staff annual leave and sickness
To have a Job Description in place that details the role and tasks that a Personal Assistants will undertake
To have employers Liability Insurance in place before staff start their employment and to update this every year
To undertake the payroll administration of wages, or to ask a Payroll Service to run your staff payroll, including registering with the Pensions Regulator & HMRC. An employer will need to provide the Payroll service with any information they need, such as copies of timesheets and any changes to staff details
To have a dedicated bank account, solely for the purpose of Self Directed Support funding received. The employer will need to provide bank statements for this account to the Local Authority Finance Team for monitoring purposes.If there is a pre-payment card in use, there is no requirement to have a bank account
If the PA Employer makes any contribution towards the support costs, arrangements such as Standing Orders may need to be established.
To meet any Health & Safety requirements in the workplace and do not put the individual or employee at risk
To provide any relevant training to staff to make sure they can do their job well. This includes equipment specific training, such as operating a hoist.
To make sure that staff have an induction into the workplace
To make sure that staff are aware of their rights regarding their Contract of Employment on the day they start their employment. This will need to include their hours of work, pay, annual Leave and sickness entitlement, as well as information on any Grievance and Disciplinary Procedure, training, other paid leave and their job title and description
To ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR) regarding staff’s personal details during and after their employment