Thera Trust

Uemploy supports people with a learning disability to employ their own personal assistant. We can support you in the way you want and as much as you want through the recruitment process, including:

• Getting a direct payment
• Designing your personal assistant
• Finding your personal assistant
• Employing your personal assistant
• Being a good employer

Our support is tailored to you, from 1 hour to help write a job description, to your own Consultant working with you through every stage. Please have a look at the services we have listed here, but do contact us to discuss your specific needs and goals so that we can design a bespoke package of support just for you.

PA Pool

Are you searching for a personal assistant (PA) that is right for you? Do you or someone in your family/circle of support have a learning disability? We can help you find your perfect PA by advertising on our PA pool. Our PA pool is a list of people who want to work as a personal assistant to someone with a learning disability.

We have interviewed all the PAs on the PA pool and completed employment checks so they are ready to start work. There are a wide range of PAs on the PA pool, with different experience, qualifications and skills. We will post your advert (saying what you are looking for from a PA) on our website and send it to potential candidates who match what you need.

Other options: If you are interested

Employment support

We will support you, your family or your circle of support to be an employer when your PA starts work. We will support you to manage the tasks that you need to do when you start working with a personal assistant (PA) to stay safe and be fair. These include:

• managing probation;
• knowing what will happen when your PA is on holiday or is ill;
• paying your PA;
• tax and National Insurance;
• insurance;
• equal opportunities;
• supervision and managing performance;
• health and safety;
• learning and development;
• pensions;
• other employment matters (like maternity, paternity, absence, discipline or grievance)

We will work with you, your family or your circle of support to help you be an employer. We will help you work with your personal assistant (PA), deal with any issues or questions and maintain the employment relationship. We will provide unlimited telephone support to help you with employment matters and conduct a minimum of one visit to you. You will also get a cheaper hourly rate for any extra consultant support if you need it.

We can create a bespoke package of support to match exactly what you are looking for. Our prices start from £30 + VAT but these will vary depending on the support you want.

Designing your personal assistant (PA)

We will work with you, your family or your circle of support to decide what you want and need from your personal assistant (PA). We will use easy and accessible "getting to know you" tools to help you.

We will use these to write:

• what the PA needs to do (job outline)
• the type of person you are looking for (person specification)
• the skills and abilities the PA will need to have (competencies)

We will also help you to plan for employing your PA, including:

• how much money you have from different sources (like your direct payment, personal health budget or other funds)
• how much support you need and what you need support with
• how much work you can offer a PA
• how much to pay the PA
• who will be the employer of your PA (depending on your capacity)
• who will help and support the employer to employ and manage the PA
• what support you need from other people or Uemploy

We can create a bespoke package of support to match exactly what you are looking for. Our prices start from £30 + VAT but these will vary depending on the support you want.

More options: Once you have decided what you are looking for in a PA and what you can offer, we can help you find your perfect match. View our other services for more information.

DBS Checcks

We will support you to check your PA's criminal record. There are 3 levels of criminal records check. We can tell you which level of check you can get. This will depend on the work that your PA does.

1. You can do a Basic Disclosure check. This is the lowest level of check and you can do it for any type of job. A Basic Disclosure only includes any unspent convictions or says that there are no convictions.

2. You can do a Standard Disclosure check. Only employers and organisations can apply for a standard disclosure for a potential new employee. This disclosure checks for spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings.

3. You can do an Enhanced Disclosure check. This is the highest level of check. Only employers and organisations can apply for an enhanced disclosure for a potential new employee. An Enhanced Disclosure contains all conviction information, spent and unspent, and any other non-conviction information considered to be relevant by the police or other Government bodies. This may include a check against the barred list.

4. Your PA can register for the update service. this lets them keep their DBS certificate up to date online and allows employers to check a certificate online without doing a new check.

The price varies depending on which check you get. We can advise you on this.

More options: we can also do other employment checks for you.

Employing Your Personal Assistant

We will work with you, your family or your circle of support to:

• interview potential personal assistants (PAs);
• support you to choose who you want to employ;
• complete employment checks like criminal records and references;
• ask someone to be your PA (make a job offer);
• write the agreement between you and your PA about the work they will do for you (contract of employment).

We can create a bespoke package of support to match exactly what you are looking for. Our prices start from £30 + VAT but these will vary depending on the support you want.

More options: If you are interested in other support to employ a PA we can help. Visit our store to find out more.

Employing your personal assistant pack

This is an accessible pack of information and templates to help people with a learning disability, their family or circle of support to employ their PA safely and legally.

The pack includes:

• Factsheet – What are employment checks?
• Factsheet – What employment checks do I need?
• Factsheet – Making offers of employment
• Template – Offer Letter
• Factsheet – Contracts of employment
• Template – Contract of Employment
• Factsheet – What training does my PA need?
• Factsheet – What training do I need to be an employer?
• Factsheet – What should be in an induction?
• Factsheet – Health and Safety
• Template – Health & Safety Checklist
• Risk Assessment Template
• Factsheet – Managing probation
• Factsheet – Managing performance

More options: View our other services to see the other factsheet and template packs we offer and to get support from a Uemploy consultant

Employment checks

We will support you, your family or circle of support by completing basic employment checks on your Personal Assistants (PAs). These include;

• Two written references that include at least one employment reference (where possible)– or more by arrangement;
• Asylum and immigration checks;
• Identity checks
• Evidence of relevant qualifications / learning;
• Pre-employment health questionnaire

The price may vary depending on the checks required. Please contact us for a personalised quote.

More options: We also offer criminal records checks at all 3 levels. View our other services for these.

Employment checks

We will support you, your family or circle of support by completing basic employment checks on your Personal Assistants (PAs). These include;

• Two written references that include at least one employment reference (where possible)– or more by arrangement;
• Asylum and immigration checks;
• Identity checks
• Evidence of relevant qualifications / learning;
• Pre-employment health questionnaire

The price may vary depending on the checks required. Please contact us for a personalised quote.

More options: We also offer criminal records checks at all 3 levels. View our other services for these.

Finding your personal assistant

We will work with you, your family or your circle of support to find you a personal assistant (PA). We will use the information you give us about what you want and need from your PA.

We can help you to:

• choose where to look for your PA;
• advertise for a PA by creating adverts and flyers;
• place adverts in the right place for the right price;
• match you to PAs in the Uemploy PA pool – these people are ready for work as PAs
• decide who you want to interview (shortlisting). This can include using video interviews to help you make a decision;
• decide how to interview and prepare interview questions
• make interview arrangements (where and when you meet the PAs) that suit you and your family, friends or other people you want involved.

We can create a bespoke package of support to match exactly what you are looking for. Our prices start from £30 + VAT but these will vary depending on the support you want.

For support with planning what your PA will do and looking at funding and support options, look at our other services.

Information, advice and guidance on getting a direct payment or personal health budget

We will work with you, your family or your circle of support to help you understand the support you can get. This includes:

• your rights to an assessment of your eligible needs (the things you need support with)
• different support options and ways to organise your support
• different ways you can get money for your support (like a direct payment or personal health budget)
• signposting you to support organisations who can help you manage your direct payment or personal health budget

We can create a bespoke package of support to match exactly what you are looking for. Our prices start from £30 + VAT but these will vary depending on the support you want.

If you already know what support you want, we can help you. View our other services for more information.

Interview Pack

This is an accessible pack of information and templates to help people with a learning disability, their family or circle of support to interview job applicants.

The pack includes:

• Factsheet - How to shortlist
• Shortlisting template
• Factsheet – Matching tools
• Staff matching template (matching you to the right PA)
• Factsheet – How to interview
• Factsheet – Competency interviews (asking questions about the skills the person has to be your PA)
• Example interview questions
• Factsheet –Why feedback is important (telling someone how they did in their interview)
• Factsheet – Recording feedback (writing down how someone did in their interview)
• Interview template
• Factsheet – Making a decision (choosing your PA)
• Factsheet – Decision making guide (for representatives, including mental capacity issues)

Visit our store to view the other factsheet and template packs we offer and to get support from a Uemploy consultant.