Advice
Industry advice
Working as a Professional Carer can be a fun and rewarding career but if you're new to it there's a few essential things you need to know. Below is just a few gems of advice, we recommend searching the net and doing some research to fully understand the business - just as you would if you were thinking of starting any other business.
General Rates of Pay
The rates of pay for Home Carers varies depending on such things as the area you live in, your experience, professionalism, whether you're a company or an individual etc. We beleieve that there are many Carers that do not get paid what they deserve, this is largly due to Agencies taking a large cut out of the money charged to the client, leaving the Carer with little more than minimum wage. At Home Carers Direct we have set a minimum wage for all jobs offered to that of £10 per hour; this way both Client and Carer benfit. Depending on the level of care required, rates vary between £10 and £25 per hour through our site. Once again, we do not charge any commission; the amount the client agrees to pay the carer is between those two parties completely.
Be Prepared
Whilst you will already have the skills and training to Care very effectively, remember to factor in additional preparation like allowing time to travel between jobs, ensuring you have all the neccesdsary equipment with you for each job and also allow for certain visits to take lomnger than you expect, that way you will never be rushed which will help keep your stress levels down, allowing for a much better experience for both you and your clients.
Working as a Self-Employed Carer
As you will be a Self-Employed Carer, if you haven't already, you will need to register as Self-Employed with HMRC. This need to be done to ensure you pay the right amount of tax and National Insurance at the appropriate times. It's not as daunting as it sounds! If you go to the following link you can find a step-by-step guide to the whole process. Click Here
