Being a good employer is important and may can mean that your personal assistant(s) will want to keep working for you for a long time. See tips to help you to be a good employer.
Work in line with the Manager Induction Standards
The Manager Induction Standards (MIS) set out what a manager/individual employer needs to know and understand to perform well in their role. They are designed to help you to recognise and develop your management skills, so that you can be a good employer.
Learn more about the Manager Induction Standards
Value and respect your personal assistant
If your personal assistant(s) are happy in their work and fairly treated, they are more likely to keep working with you.
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Make sure that you are paying your personal assistant(s) at least the ‘going rate’. Ideally, people’s pay should also reflect their skills, qualifications and responsibilities.
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You may choose to pay a higher rate to a personal assistant who does extra or more difficult tasks.
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Pay your personal assistants correctly and on time.
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Provide other benefits for working with you, for example, extra holidays, support for training and qualifications and flexible working.
Be flexible
Be as flexible as you can with your personal assistant’s needs and preferences for working hours, so long as your needs are met. Make sure that your personal assistant does not feel the need to work longer hours than necessary.
Good communication
Communication is about passing on information, developing understanding and building relationships. Crucially, it is more about listening than talking.
As part of their induction, tell your personal assistant about preferred methods of communication, if they need to make use of interpreters, equipment or visual aids and when to seek guidance from your family or other people that know you well.
You should not employ a personal assistant unless you, and they, are confident that you can understand each other, or will be able to after training or instruction.
Where possible, try to make sure that small matters that may be causing problems are dealt with as early as possible. This will stop them escalating into a bigger problem.
Set clear boundaries
Your relationship with your personal assistant(s) may not be like more formal employer/employee relationships.
Sometimes, personal assistants can end up feeling more like friends than employees. This can be a good thing as it means that there is a bit more ‘give and take’ on both sides. But it can also mean that if things don’t go to plan the relationship may make it difficult to deal with.
When you employ a personal assistant, think about how you will make boundaries clear, and how you will deal with it if the boundaries are over-stepped. This is a good thing to talk about in induction and supervision.
Looking after your money
Set clear boundaries about looking after your money and savings. Here are some tips to help.
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It may be useful to keep a small sum available, for example £20, that your personal assistant can access if they need to buy any items or pay small bills, such as a window cleaner.
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If you need your personal assistant to have access to your money, set up a separate bank account and only pay in the amount that you want them to access.
There are some things that you should not do, including:
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do not leave money around the house, other than that you want your personal assistant to access
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do not reveal your bank PIN number to anybody that is not authorised
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do not allow your personal assistant to become a signatory on your bank or building society account
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never advance your personal assistant’s wages or get involved with your personal assistant’s financial affairs
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personal assistants should never become the person who signs financial documents on your behalf (appointee).
More information