recruiting personal assistants - peopleplus€¦ · web viewword of mouth. use your friends,...

©PeoplePlus Ltd 2013

Recruiting

Personal Assistant

sA Good Practice Guide to Recruiting Personal Assistants to support you to

live independently

ContentsIntroduction...................................................................1Personal Safety..............................................................1Developing a Recruitment Pack.....................................3

Recruitment Cover Letter.......................................3Job Description.......................................................3Person Specification...............................................3Application Form.....................................................4

Advertising and Finding Employees...............................4Where to Advertise.................................................5Writing an Advertisement.......................................6Responding to Enquiries.........................................7

Interviewing Applicants..................................................8Shortlisting Applicants............................................8Deciding Where to Hold the Interviews..................8Preparing an Interview Plan....................................9Deciding Who Will be Involved in the Interviews....9Invite the Applicants for Interview........................10Holding the Interviews..........................................10Making your Decision...........................................10

Recruitment Checks.....................................................11References............................................................11Criminal Record Checks........................................12Checking Eligibility to Work in the UK...................12

Employing Young People..............................................13Restrictions on Who You Can Employ...........................13Equal Opportunities in Recruitment.............................14Conclusion...................................................................15

IntroductionThis booklet has been written to guide you through the recruitment process when you need to recruit a new Personal Assistant or PA as we often refer to them. Recruiting a PA can take some time and effort on your part, although there is significant support available from your Independent Living Support Service. However, investing some of your time now and getting the right worker or workers will pay dividends in the future.

Your Independent Living Support Service is able to provide a lot of support when you are recruiting Personal Assistants. We can help you develop any documents you need or provide you with sample copies for you to adapt. We can often place adverts on your behalf in local publications. If you would prefer us to respond to job enquirers on your behalf we can put our telephone number, email address and a specific job reference number in the advert. We will then respond to enquirers by sending out details of your vacancy. Once we receive an application we will then forward a copy to you.

When it comes to interviewing applicants we can help you plan the interviews and contact the applicants. We may be able to sit in on interviews with you, but are not always able to guarantee this.

Other than when we receive the outcome of a DBS check, we do not make any decisions about the suitability of applicants or undertake any vetting of potential workers. You need to make the decision about who is the right person to employ. We are happy to discuss any applicants with you and give you guidance but the final decision is yours.

Personal SafetyDo spend some time considering your personal safety and security throughout the recruitment process. Invariably there will be a stage during the process when you need to give people your personal details, including your home address, telephone number, etc. It is important that you remain in control of the process. When and who gets to know your personal details should be up to you. The following should give you some reassurance and useful tips about how you can manage and control the situation.

Recruiting Personal Assistants © PeoplePlus Ltd 2013 Page 1

You do not need to put your name, address or telephone number on the job description. An indication the location of your home, e.g. the village or the area of your town in which you live, is all that is needed.

Obviously you will need to provide a way for people to find out more about the job you have available. If you would prefer not to publish your own telephone number, your Independent Living Support Service is able to take calls from interested people and forward their details on to you and/or send them a copy of your recruitment pack. Contact your Independent Living Support Service and we will give you more details about this. We will tell you which telephone number to use in your advert and give you a reference number for applicants to quote so we know which job people are interested in.

You can ask applicants to return their application forms back to your Independent Living Support Service rather than your home address. We will then forward them on to you.

If you telephone applicants, withhold your telephone number by dialling 141 before you call the number.

You don't have to interview applicants at your home. It is slightly more difficult to arrange interviews at another location but if you would prefer to initially meet applicants without them finding out where you live then this may be a sensible option. Obviously at some stage you will need to let applicants meet you at home. This could be done at a second stage interview if needed. Interviewing in a local hall or meeting place has the disadvantage of the applicant not being able to see the environment in which they will be working. However, your personal safety should come first.

If you choose to interview staff in your own home, do not do it alone. Never give an indication that you will be absent from your home for a time, e.g. don't say “I'm away this weekend but I'll let you know at the beginning of next week”. Think before you give them a tour of your home.

Do some simple checks before you invite people into your home for the first time. Try to check that they are who they say they are. See if they are in the telephone book. Telephone the references they have given etc.

Page 2 © PeoplePlus Ltd 2013 PeoplePlus Good Employment Guide

If you interview people in your own home, get some proof of identity, e.g. a passport or other photo identity, and make a note of the reference number of the document given.

If you have any children living in your home it may be better not to mention this in any of your adverts or recruitment pack.

This section is not designed to make you paranoid but it is important you consider these safety issues. If you want more advice contact your Independent Living Support Service who will be able to talk you through the various issues.

Developing a Recruitment PackWhen you start recruiting personal assistants you will need to develop a recruitment pack. The independent Living Support Service will be able to help you create your own recruitment pack and we have sample ones which can be adapted to suit your situation. The recruitment pack will generally include the following.

Recruitment Cover LetterThe Cover Letter should introduce you to the applicants, giving them some information about the post, where to return the application form to and who to contact for further information.

Job DescriptionThe length of the Job Description and the detail it goes into often relates to the type of job. A short Job Description is often suitable for someone just working a few hours a week whereas a much more comprehensive one would be more relevant for a full-time or live-in worker. You may need to have more than one Job Description depending on how you arrange your personal assistance support, e.g. if you want one worker to assist you with personal assistance and another who does more domestic work, etc. The following are the sort of headings most Job Descriptions use.

Job title

Place of work


Background to job

Hours of work

Rate and method of pay

Duties & tasks

Person SpecificationThe usual method of writing a Person Specification is to use two headings:

Essential Requirements

Desirable Requirements

Essential Requirements will be those qualities a person must have to be considered for the job. A good example is gender. Other examples could include the ability to drive, a non-smoker, or ability to work in a smoking environment, etc. Before you list anything under ‘Essential Requirements’ do ask yourself, “is this really an essential requirement for my Personal Assistants?”. Every time you include another requirement you are ruling out another section of possible job applicants and therefore you will be cutting down on the applications you will receive.

The Desirable Requirements are those which you would prefer your employees to have. However, you are indicating that you will still consider applications from people even if they don’t fulfil all your Desirable Requirements. For example, you may list “Previous experience supporting disabled people in their own homes” as a desirable requirement which means you would give preference to people with previous experience but wouldn’t rule out someone who doesn’t have any previous experience. This section can be a useful method of selecting which applicants you are going to interview.

Application FormApplication Forms are a useful way to gather information from people interested in your vacancy. The advantage with application forms is that you get the information in a standard format which makes it easier to compare applicants. You don't have to use an application form, you could ask people to send you their CV but this may not have all the information you require.


Your Independent Living Support Service is able to supply sample application forms and can customise them to your specific requirements. They are also able to provide copies for you to give to interested applicants.

Advertising and Finding EmployeesYour next stage in the recruitment of Personal Assistants is to advertise, interview and finally make an offer of employment. There are a number of stages you need to work through but your Independent Living Support Service is able to assist you through the process. When recruiting workers for posts, it is essential that you comply with Equal Opportunities legislation. For more details about this please refer to the "Equal Opportunities during Recruitment" section.

Where to AdvertiseThere are a number of different options to advertise your vacancies.

Internet Sites

Gumtree and Trade It are a good place to advertise for PA’s

Word of Mouth

Use your friends, former personal assistants, local and social contacts to spread the word that you are looking for suitable people to fill the post. Do consider the implications however, of employing a friend as your Personal Assistant. For some people it can work really well. For others, it can be the quickest way to lose a good friend. If one of your workers is leaving and you have to recruit a replacement, do ask the person who is leaving and any of your other workers whether they know anyone who may be interested.

Existing Agency Workers

You may already be receiving services from a private Care Agency and be interested in offering work to some of the staff who you already know. Be very careful before you do this. If you currently pay the agency then you will probably find a clause in the agency's Terms & Conditions which means that they could charge you if you privately employ someone who they have sent to work with you. This is called poaching. If your local authority arranges the agency to come


to you and there is no contract between you and the agency then it is unlikely that they could charge you if you offer employment to any of their workers. However, you may find that the worker's Contracts of Employment with the agency restricts them working privately for people who they currently work with via the agency. It makes no difference whether you directly offer them the job or whether they respond to an advert. Their employer, the care agency, may be able to make a deduction from their final wages or pursue them for damages.

Job Centres (called JobCentrePlus)

They will display your advert and circulate it to other job centres as well as placing it on the internet. You can telephone them on 0845 601 2001 or visit the job centre to place an advert. You can also place the advert online for free via the JobCentre Plus website

(www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk).

Notice Boards

You can put adverts on the boards of local shops, newsagents, post offices, supermarkets, libraries, clubs, hospitals, colleges, universities, churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, etc. Further education establishments have a lot of people passing through their doors: you could target notice boards in the areas where social care courses are taught. This may attract people who already have an interest in work as a Personal Assistant.

The Independent Living Support Service

If you are recruiting a PA, it is worth letting your Independent Living Support Service know in case they know of people who are looking for work or to see if there are any other PA employers living close to you who may have some PAs who are looking to do some additional work.

Local Newspapers and Magazines

Your Independent Living Support Service will know which local newspapers and magazines tend to produce the best response to adverts. You may also want to pick up some copies of local newspapers to get a feel for which one may be the best to advertise in. Have a look through them to see which have a good range of jobs, especially ones which have a number of similar types of jobs.


http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/

Writing an AdvertisementThe primary purpose of an advert is to get people to respond to it and make contact with you. You don’t want to have it so detailed that you limit yourself too much but you need to give enough information to prevent phone calls from lots of people who can’t do the job.

There is no one style or format which always works. However, you may want to bear in mind the following when you are drafting the advert.

You need to say where the job is based, i.e. the village, the town or the area of the town.

It is not always necessary to include a job title; the description of the job may be enough. If you use the title “Personal Assistant” make sure other people will know what you mean and they won’t mistake it for a PA to a managing director! It maybe preferable to use the term “Personal Care Assistant” or “Support Worker”.

Give an indication about the hours or days of work.

Make sure you give them a contact number and double check the telephone number for mistakes!

Consider including an email address for people to respond to.

It is up to you whether to include the rate of pay in the advert. Some people will say it attracts people to the job (provided it is a reasonable wage!); others will say people will only respond because of the wage. If the amount you are offering is above what other people seem to pay, then it may be sensible to include it in the advert.

Get someone else to read it who hasn’t helped you write it. They will often notice things that you haven’t.

Make sure that you comply with equal opportunities legislation (see the section “Equal Opportunities in Recruitment” for more details).

Do something to try and stand out a little from all the other adverts. Include some humour or think of something you are offering that a care agency can’t offer staff.


Responding to EnquiriesIf you have decided to put your telephone number in the advert make sure you are prepared for people when they start calling you. You may decide just to take their name and address and send out the recruitment pack, or you may prefer to have a bit more of a chat on the telephone to check that it is the sort of job they are interested in and to answer any immediate questions. Either way, do make sure that you keep good records of the people who call you. After twenty telephone conversations, you will forget which one sounded really promising. If anyone else in your house might answer the phone, make sure you tell them what to say.

If you have an answer phone, consider changing the message to tell people to leave their details if they are phoning about the job otherwise people may hang up because they think they have called the wrong number.

Do respond to people as soon as possible. If they are calling you about a job, chances are they’ve called other people. If you get back to them first, you’ll increase the chances of getting them to work for you.

Remember that your Independent Living Support Service can respond to people on your behalf if you would prefer. If you are interested in this contact us to discuss it.

Interviewing ApplicantsThe next stage in the process is to meet with any potential employees. These are the steps you need to take.

Short listing ApplicantsDeciding who to interview needs to be based on the completed application forms you have received and any conversations you have had with applicants on the telephone. This is where it is useful to have a copy of the Person Specification you wrote listing the essential and desirable requirements. You can initially sift through the application forms and put aside those people who do not meet all the essential criteria you listed. You can then use the desirable criteria to narrow down the number of people to interview. You will probably be able to gauge quite


a lot from how the application form was completed. If lots of the questions were not answered or only had very short answers you may decide that the person does not appear very interested in the job. Deciding how many to interview depends on the time you have available and the number of applicants. As a rough guide you may want to interview between four and six applicants for each job.

Not everything always goes as smoothly as you would like and you may find that you have very few applicants, e.g. just one or two. You will then have the dilemma of whether to re-advertise or accept candidates who you may not otherwise have considered had you had a better response to the advert. The more applicants you have, the more choosey you can be. If you have very few applicants, don't be tempted to interview people who really don't have the skills or attributes to do the job. In the long run, it’s better to re-advertise and get the right people rather than employ the wrong person.

Deciding Where to Hold the InterviewsIt is up to you where you want to interview people. The main choice is whether to interview in your own home, or whether to interview at a local public building or hall. The primary concern should be for your personal safety. If you would not feel comfortable interviewing people in your own home, then don’t. At some stage, applicants will need to know where you live but you may not want to do this just yet. The advantage of interviewing at home is that applicants will get a much better idea of the job and find out more about you. If you decide to interview away from your home, you may need to select who you want to employ after the interviews and then invite them to come round to your home for an informal chat so they can see where they will be working.

Do read the advice about personal safety and security before you hold the interviews. If you need help in finding somewhere to hold the interviews ask your Independent Living Support Service for advice.

Preparing an Interview PlanSpending some time putting an interview plan together will be worthwhile. You will be able to use it again in the future so you only need to do it once. Having an interview plan means that you ask roughly the same questions to each applicant. This makes it easier for you to compare the applicants with each other at the end. It is also fairer to them. With an interview plan you can be sure that you ask all


the questions you intended to and don’t forget any important ones. Try to ask “open questions”, i.e. ones which can’t be replied with a yes or no. Instead of asking, “Do you have any previous experience?” say “Tell me about your previous experience which you think is relevant to this job.”.

Your Independent Living Support Service will be able to help you plan one relevant to you and the job you are interviewing for.

Deciding Who Will be Involved in the InterviewsIt is always sensible to interview with someone else so you can discuss the interviews with someone else at the end. This may be a friend, a relative or possibly someone from the Independent Living Support Service. You may forget things that other people remember. It can also be useful to have one person take notes of the applicant’s answers. It is probably best not have more than three people involved. You are advised not to interview on your own, especially if you are interviewing in your own home, unless there is someone else in the house at the same time. It is also useful to have a second person in case one interview over-runs and the next applicant arrives before you have finished the previous interview.

If someone from your Independent Living Support Service sits in on the interviews they will explain beforehand what their role will be. During the interview, they should not take the lead role but will ask any supplementary questions if you are happy for them to do that. They may also be able to take notes for you. Following the interviews, they will not recommend which applicant to select or offer an opinion on the applicants. They will however be objective and guide you through the questions you need to ask yourself in order to reach your decision.

Invite the Applicants for InterviewYou will need to let the applicants know where the interview will be held. You could do this by telephone but you may need to send them a map of the interview location. Make sure you get them to confirm whether they will be coming or not. Most interviews will last about 30 to 45 minutes. You may decide to make them a little longer, particularly for a full-time job or a live-in post. You may decide to telephone applicants on the day of the interview to check they are coming.


Holding the InterviewsMake sure the room you are having the interview in is comfortable and that you will not be disturbed. Make sure you have a few welcoming questions, e.g. “Did you find this place OK?”, to put people at their ease. Make sure you have your interview plan, job description, their application form and pen & paper to make notes.

You should be prepared to go into detail about your personal requirements at the interview stage and to answer any questions about these. Asking applicants to read the job description will help to make it clear to them what you expect.

The interview is the main time you have to assess the applicant’s personal qualities. It is most that important that you get on with each other. Look at how they present themselves as this can say a lot about their suitability. Don’t be afraid to use your ‘gut feelings’. It might be useful to conduct the interview in an informal way, maybe over a cup of coffee. This can help you to judge whether you like the applicant.

Do not offer anyone the job at this stage. Give the applicant an indication of when you will let them know.

Making your DecisionHopefully this will be quite easy and you will have a clear idea of who to offer the job to. If this isn’t the case, this can be where it is useful to bounce your ideas of the other person who was involved in the interviews. Go through any notes you made and the Person Specification you wrote. If you have two applicants who seem very close, it may help to draw up a “for and against” list to see which applicant comes out on top. The final decision however, has to be yours.

Informing the Successful Applicants

As soon as you have made your decision to appoint someone, do contact the applicant to let them know. They may well be looking for other jobs so you want to make your offer as soon as possible. Initially you will probably telephone them to inform them. Make it clear that you will confirm the offer in writing and that the offer is "Conditional" subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and any other information you need to confirm. You need to follow this telephone call up with a written offer of employment. Your

Recruiting Personal Assistants © PeoplePlus Ltd 2013Page 11

Independent Living Support Service will be able to help you with the wording of a job offer letter. Do take advice before sending the letter as it will form part of the Contractual Terms of Employment.

Informing the Unsuccessful Applicants

This isn’t always the easiest job! Be prepared for people to ask why they weren’t successful, so have some answers ready. It is important that you do contact everyone who you interviewed. They made the effort to come to the interview and it is not nice to be kept holding on not knowing whether you have got the job or not. If they are someone you would have considered employing but you have offered the job to a more suitable person, hold on to their details in case you need to recruit again in the future. You may also want to consider seeing if they would consider becoming a “bank” worker who would cover any holidays or sickness etc.

Recruitment ChecksAs soon as you have decided who you want to offer a job to you should undertake some recruitment checks. Once you have done these you can then confirm the appointment with the applicant. The three main checks you need to undertake are:

Requesting References

Disclosure & Barring Service Checks

Checking Eligibility to Work in the UK

ReferencesOnce you have decided who you want to employ you should request references. It is always worth ensuring that you get at least one reference from an “official” source, for example from a previous employer or a college lecturer etc. Do not rely on references given to you by the applicant.

Your Independent Living Support Service will be able to assist you with requesting references if you need any help.


Disclosure and Barring Service ChecksCriminal Record Checks are known as DBS (formally CRB) Checks and will list any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings which someone has received in the UK. However, a DBS check will not give details of any

convictions outside of the UK. They are an important part of the recruitment vetting process but should be seen as part of a much wider vetting process which includes the application form, the interview and references. A DBS check which does not list out any convictions should not be seen in itself as an indication that the worker is honest and trustworthy.

As an individual employing Personal Assistants, you are not able to carry out criminal record checks yourself - the legislation prevents this happening. However, you should be able to get a DBS check done on an employee or potential employee either via your Independent Living Support Service or your local authority.

If your employee will have access to children and young people as part of their job then it is essential that you request a DBS check. In other circumstances you are strongly advised to consider requesting a DBS check.

Contact your Independent Living Support Service to find out how to access a CRB check.

Checking Eligibility to Work in the UKIt is a criminal offence to employ someone who is not entitled to live or work in the United Kingdom. Some people are automatically entitled to work in the UK. Others may have restrictions on the length of time they can stay or the type of work that they can do. It is important to follow certain procedures and to check each potential employee's eligibility to work, to avoid facing prosecution for employing somebody who isn't legally entitled to work in the UK. Your Independent Living Support Service will be able to help you check if someone is eligible to work in the UK. The rules are quite complex but generally British passport holders and passport holders from the European Union (including Switzerland) can work in the UK. Some other people can also work in the UK but you are advised to contact your Independent Living Support Service for advice in these situations.


If the potential worker doesn’t hold a passport, contact your Independent Living Support Service and they will advise you what you need to check.

You should keep a copy of the person’s passport or document which confirms their eligibility to work in the UK.

Employing Young PeopleYoung People aged 16 or under who have not reached the school leaving age.

If you are considering employing someone aged under 16, please contact your Independent Living Support Service.

Young People Aged 16 & 17 who have reached the school leaving age

If workers are over the minimum school leaving age (which is the last Friday in June following their 16th birthday) but under 18, they must not work for more than eight hours a day or forty hours a week. If you employ anybody in this age group you must also give them:

a break of 30 minutes every four-and-a-half hours worked

a rest period of 12 hours between each working day

two days off a week

Restrictions on Who You Can Employ If you are using Direct Payments funding there are some restrictions on who you can employ which are set by the legislation. These are:

Your partner (married or unmarried)

A close-relative living in the same house as you

A close relative means any of the following: Parent, parent-in-law, aunt, uncle, grandparent, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, step son or daughter, brother, sister, or the partner or spouse of any of the preceding people.

In certain circumstances, the Local Authority can allow you to employ someone in the above categories but you will need to get written permission from them first.

If you are using funding from the Independent Living Fund similar rules apply and you should get permission from the ILF prior to employing a close relative who lives in the same house as you.


If you are using your personal finances to employ workers, then there are no restrictions on who you can employ.

If you are using Direct Payments funding the Local Authority can, in exceptional circumstances, make additional restrictions on who you can employ but they would need to explain these to you.

Equal Opportunities in RecruitmentThere is a significant amount of legislation protecting potential employees against unlawful discrimination and the penalties for discriminating against someone can be quite high so it is important to ensure that you understand what you can and can't do.

The best way to approach the issue of equal opportunities is to value differences and diversity and not to start with any pre-conceived ideas about who, or which groups of people, may or may not be good at the job you have available. Invariably it is up to an employer to show that they were fair in their recruitment and employment if a case is brought against you.

Generally you should not discriminate against potential applicants on any of the following grounds:

Age

Disability

Gender (including people who have changed their gender)

Racial Background

Religion or beliefs

Sexual Orientation

Trade Union Membership

There are times when you can legally discriminate. For example, if you are a woman and you need personal assistance, then you can legally restrict the job to females only (and vice versa for men). If you are considering limiting the job to certain groups of people, do contact your Independent Living Support Service for advice.


ConclusionHopefully at the end of the recruitment process you will have one or more personal assistants ready and eager to work for you and it will be the start of a good relationship which will enable you to achieve the level of independence you are looking for and the lifestyle you want.

Remember that PeoplePlus is here to guide you through the whole process so don’t think you have to undertake the recruitment all on your own. Do contact us if you need any help or guidance.


© PeoplePlus Ltd 2013 Edition: 1c 05/07/2013

The PeoplePlus Independent Living Support Service

provides information, advice and support to people using

funding supplied by your local authority to live

independently. The service supports people to use and

manage their funding to arrange the assistance

needed, either by contracting with home care agencies or by recruiting and employing personal

assistants.

recruiting personal assistants - peopleplus€¦ · web viewword of mouth. use your friends,...

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