Employing your own personal assistant

Direct payments allow you to control who provides you with the support you need and decide when you want it. You can choose who comes into your home, when and what they do for you. If you want to take your personal budget as a direct payment to employ your own staff it means you will become an ‘employer’. There are different options available if you want to employ a personal assistant. You can:

  • employ a personal assistant through an agency
  • employ a personal assistant who is already set up as ‘self-employed’
  • recruit and employ a personal assistant by yourself.

This page provides a summary of the things you need to consider when recruiting a personal assistant.

Responsibilities as an employer

For more information about your responsibilities as an employer, visit the being an employer page. This provides more information on what you have to do to ensure you meet your legal obligations when you become an employer. You can also get more information by calling 01753 475111.