This is a question that often goes around when carers get together. Often you will hear this debate when you are doing your training or updates. Normally the conversation is left with no conclusion because there are several pros and cons with each scenario.

Let’s have a look at the differences between working for an agency and working as a private live-in carer.

Working privately

Pros

• You work as much or as little as you like or can afford to.
• You can decide where you want to work and with what sort of client.

Cons

• You have no agency to back you up.
• You must arrange all your own training at your own expense and in your own time.
• Your client and family can fire you at a moment’s notice.
• You must agree a price with your client or their family. 
• The family or client pays you directly and may dispute your invoice.

Working for an agency

Pros

• You always have a company backing you up.
• You have support at any time if you need to discuss something.
• Your agency takes care of your tax and national insurance contributions.
• You can decide where and when you want to work – to a degree.
• If there are any pay disputes the agency can intervene on your behalf.
• The agency trains you and handles your updates each year.

Cons

• You need to tell the agency in advance the times you can work.
• You need to be flexible otherwise they may not be able to find you enough work.
• You may be without work in the summer because there are too many carers and not enough clients. The opposite is true for winter when you will be asked repeatedly to work as there are not enough carers.

While there are pros and cons for either work preference, there are in fact some good reasons for working privately and with an agency.

Working with an agency means that they will find you placements rather than you having to scour the classifieds for situations. The agency finds out all you need to know about the prospective client rather than you having to conduct the interview yourself.

As a private live-in carer, you are free to work in any area you like. If you really do not want to go to Scotland because you can only fly into Stansted, then you can choose not to go there. With an agency if you refuse work there is always the possibility that you get offered less than other carers because you choose to go to fewer places.

While the family of your private client may support you, if things do take a turn for the worse, the family will always take the side of their relative, no matter how ‘in the right’ you are. You will not have any support or backup in this case.

While working as a private live-in carer you may earn significantly more money than when working through an agency, you will need to take care of your taxes yourself as well as paying your National Insurance contributions. You will also be responsible for updating your training every year and may find that unless you work for the company many agencies may not agree to you doing your update with them.

To sum up

Before you take the step from working for an agency to working as a private live-in carer, you should weigh up the pros and cons of both situations. There is good and bad on either option. Ultimately the decision will be up to you.

If you do choose to work privately you should make sure that you have a legal contract setting out your own terms and conditions clearly, how much you will be paid, and what time off you will have each day.

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