How to find the right person to employ
If you are going to employ someone using direct payments the first step is to think about what kind of support you need and how employing a personal assistant(s) will help you meet these needs. You can check your support plan to help you think about what outcomes you want to achieve and what you will need the personal assistant to do to assist you. The list that you write can be used as a part of the job description.
The job description and person specification
A job description describes the role and the main duties. The person specification describes the sort of person you are looking for. The documents should include:
- a list of the things you need the personal assistant to do
- the days and time you need them to work for you
- the qualities, skills, experience or training you would like your personal assistant to have
- anything else you will expect of your personal assistant, for example, if your direct payments are to help you go out then you may want someone who has a car.
You will also need to include details of:
- hours of work: (List the days and hours of work – you can add ‘flexible hours to be mutually agreed’ if you choose)
- rate of Pay: (If the hours include evenings, sleepovers or weekends, list the different rates of pay e.g. weekdays - £8.00 per hour, sleepover - £37.80)
A sample job description and person specification can be found in the employing personal assistants toolkit.