WHAT A JOB ADVERT SHOULD LOOK LIKE .. IDEALLY!

So, if we had a clean sheet of paper, and were devising a job and package to attract and retain people as Home Care Support Assistants, what would it look like?

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It would be a guaranteed hour contract, with standard holiday, say, 35 hours per week, either morning shifts or evening shifts (but not both) and alternate week-ends.

It would be paying block hours. In other words, the person would be paid from start of shift to end of shift, including travel time.

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The salary would have to be more than £22534 per annum, to match that of a Healthcare Support Assistant on the NHS.

More than, because the home care support assistant is doing similar duties, but is working on his or her own and does not get a generous pension.

So let’s say £27300 per annum, which translates at £15 per hour.

There would be an overtime rate also, to cover extra shifts in case of sickness, at say a 30% premium, or £19.50 per hour, and a bank holiday rate at £30 per hour.

There would also be mileage expenses, paid at the HMRC rate of 45p per mile (they are unlikely to do more than 10000 miles a year).

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

Finally there would be a clearly defined career structure, perhaps based on NVQ qualification, through Senior to Supervisor to Registered and Regional Manager.

That’s our job. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for a job. But revolutionary in home care, because we have allowed ourselves to race to the bottom in response to local authority prices.

Next week we’ll look at how such a role would impact on minimum prices.