How will I be paid?
For a new live-in carer this is a very important question. While care work is all about taking care of others, getting paid is also very important. Most live-in carers have bills to pay such as rent. Some must budget for flights and train fares.
While you may be recompensed for travel, you are always going to be out of pocket for your plane fare. You may have a credit card bill which needs to be paid monthly. Whatever your expenses, you need to know firstly that you will be paid for your work, and secondly how you will be paid.
If you work for an agency there are two ways you will be paid.
Directly by your agency
When you are directly employed by the agency, they will take care of your pay. You will need to forward them copies of all your expenses such as train and taxi receipts. These normally need to reach them at least four days before your due pay date, otherwise they will be added to the following week.
They will work out your pay, include your expenses, and deduct your tax and National Insurance contributions. They will send you – either by post to where you are working, or by email – a pay slip with a date when your wages will be available in your bank.
You can specify when you join the agency whether you want to be paid weekly, monthly or at the end of your booking. Bear in mind that this may be more than a month, and it’s a very long time to wait for your wages!
Directly by your client
If you are self-employed, your client, family or appointed person such as solicitor will take care of your wages.
You will need to provide your travel receipts and any other receipts for such things as shopping, that you have paid for on behalf of your client.
You will need to work out your daily rate and add in any night calls that you are charging for.
In an invoice book, you should legibly write out all your expenses so that whoever pays you can see exactly what you are claiming for. Total it all up and hand it to the person at an agreed time. You may prefer to be paid weekly or be happy with monthly.
Some clients on short term bookings prefer to pay at the end of the term. If this suits you (it does not suit everyone) then go ahead and let them know. If not, you should discuss this at the earliest convenience in order to get paid prudently.
Make sure that you give a receipt to the person who pays you and keep a copy for your own records. You will need this when you come to file your taxes.
To sum up
Agencies differ in how they pay you, although more are moving towards carers being employed by the agency. There are, however, many carers who prefer to take care of their taxes and National Insurance contributions themselves, so this is something that you need to find out before you join a particular agency.
Whichever method you are paid, it is a good idea to keep a separate envelope for all your expense receipts, or anything you may need to hold on to until your taxes are filed. Keep things separate from other paperwork so that you have everything at hand.
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