Contact:
  • Dawn Gillard, Strategic Planning Officer - Direct Payments
  • Address:
    Adult Social Services & Housing, PO Box 3343, Bath, BA1 2ZH
  • E-mail:
    dawn_gillard@bathnes.gov.uk
  • Telephone:
    01225 477821
  • Fax:
    01225 396489 (Finance)
  • Minicom:
    _
  • Page Updated:
    21/11/2008
  • Author:
    Ben Dallimore
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Paying Personal Assistants April 2008 – April 2009

Wages and Employer’s Costs

When you are working out the cost of employing Personal Assistants, you need to allow both for the wages you will pay (including tax and National Insurance) and for the other costs that you will have as an Employer.

Employer’s costs are things like Employer’s National Insurance Contributions, holiday pay, bank holidays, Statutory Sick Pay and administrative costs (e.g. advertising, insurance, phone calls, Criminal Record Bureau checks, training, payroll, stationery).  It also allows for some contingency.

The table below shows Bath & North East Somerset’s recommended PA wages (including tax and NI) and the Employer’s costs.    These are calculated at 30% of the wage.  The total amount is the figure you should use when calculating how many hours you can afford.

These rates are only guidelines.  You can work out your own provided that they comply with employment legislation.

Hours

PA wage

Employers’ costs

(30% of wage)

Total

Monday - Friday

7am to 10pm

£7.68 per hour

£ 2.31 per hour

£9.99per hour

Monday – Friday

Unsocial hours

before 7am/after 10pm

£9.83 per hour

£ 2.96 per hour

£12.79 per hour

Saturday – Sunday

7am to 10pm

£8.83 per hour

£ 2.66 per hour

£11.49 per hour

Sleeping nights

10pm – 7am

£36.87  per night

£ 11.07 per night

 

£47.94 per night

Waking nights

10pm – 7am

£69.20 per night

£ 18.77per night

£89.97 per night

24 hour cover

To be confirmed

To be confirmed

To be confirmed


Set-up costs

You will need to pay for some things like insurance and recruitment before you employ your PA’s.  You can pay for these privately and then pay yourself back out of your Budget payments when they start.  Alternatively, you can arrange for some of your Budget to be paid to you upfront to cover these initial costs.  After that, they can be met out of the Employer’s costs.

You should allow £90-£100 to pay for employer’s insurance cover for a year.

We recommend that all potential employees are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and, in some circumstances, we may require that CRB checks are done.  CRB checks can be organised through Social Services.  The cost of them should be included in the Support Plan Costing.  The cost is £42.30 (£36+VAT) per CRB check.

 

Using Self-Employed Personal Assistants

There are rules about whether someone is considered self-employed for tax purposes.  It is HM Revenue and Customs that decides whether someone is self-employed and not the individual themselves.  As a rule, they would consider most people providing care as employees.

This is a complex area.  We do not recommend that you use self-employed personal assistants.  However, if you do, you need to get advice and check their self-employed status.  You should read the leaflet produced by HM Revenue and Customs ‘IR56 - Employed or self-employed? A guide to employment status for tax and National Insurance contributions’.  This is available by contacting them on 0845 9000 404 or going to their website:  www.hmrc.gov.uk.

Paying Personal Assistants’ expenses

There may be occasions on which you want to use some of your Budget to pay expenses to your Personal Assistants.  If so, this needs to be agreed in your Support Plan.

It is extremely important only to reimburse out of pocket expenses and to keep copies of all receipts.  Money over and above out of pocket expenses is regarded as income by HM Revenue and Customs, and is therefore taxable.

We may ask to see receipts and claim forms when your Individual Budget Account is audited.  Expenses should be reimbursed by cheque.

Social Services has limits on the amount of money that can be reimbursed as expenses.  If you think that you will need to exceed these limits or will need to reimburse other expenses, it must be agreed in advance in your Support Plan.

For details of the limits, please ask for the Information Sheet Paying Expenses.

We recommend that you get relevant information and advice before coming to any agreement about expenses with your Personal Assistant.

If you are receiving support from the Shaw Trust, they will be able to provide you with more information.  You can also contact HM Revenues and Customs.  Tel.  0845 010 9000

Website: www.hmrc.gov.uk

 

 

This information about can be made available in a range of community languages, large print, Braille, on tape, electronic and accessible formats from the Information Officer (information_officer@bathnes.gov.uk) - Tel (01225 477983) Fax (01225 396489)  Minicom (01225 477043)