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CEO Statement

Keeping our members and staff safe whilst continuing to be available to provide advice, guidance, support and assistance as and when required is SPAEN’s key priority and it is with this in mind that we have taken the decision to follow and implement, fully, the Scottish and UK Governments’ advice issued last evening and have taken a number of steps which will change how we do this.

From today (17.03.20), SPAEN’s office in Bellshill will remain closed. This will be constantly reviewed and we will continue to follow Government advice on when to re-open. As a consequence, all office and home visits scheduled will also be cancelled or re-scheduled for a later date. This is done primarily to ensure we do not put any of the people we work with at risk of transmission of Corona virus.

We are conscious that some people may be asymptomatic (have no symptoms) but may still be affected by and therefore pass on Corona virus so simply checking with our staff that they have no symptoms was not sufficiently reliable in seeking to keep you safe.

SPAEN has a very detailed and well-rehearsed Business Continuity Plan and this is now being implemented. This should ensure that you continue to receive the supports and services that you want and need throughout the period that the office is closed, with the exception of face-to-face visits.

For people wishing face-to-face support, we can facilitate video calling using our telephone system and this is available to every SPAEN member at all times. We’re glad we implemented this well in advance and hope that it eases some of the difficulty of not being able to provide home or office visits.

You should continue to phone the SPAEN telephone number (01698 250280) or e-mail info@spaen.co.uk (or the individual or service if you have their direct e-mail address) and we will continue to respond to all your enquiries. When phoning the SPAEN office, you will still be asked to select from 1 for Membership Services; 2 for Payroll services etc. Please continue to use these options as this will direct your enquiry to the right person.

Payroll and Managed Account customers should continue to submit timesheets or other requests to payroll@spaen.co.uk and these will be processed in the usual timescales. The deadlines for submitting payroll information remains the same, so please ensure you help us by having this information to us on time. If you normally post your timesheets, we will be collecting mail from the office so these will continue to be processed to.

I would re-iterate our advice to all PA employers – PLAN ahead. If you can, have casual contracts in place for emergency care and support if your PA is unable to attend work at short-notice. We are working with PA Network Scotland to develop an “emergency list” of available PA’s from all across Scotland.

If you require emergency cover, please get in touch and we’ll do what we can to link you with PA’s in your area however we strongly recommend having other informal supports in place too.

It may take us a few hours to get our remote systems up and running but after this period, you should see business as normal. We recognise these are not normal times and I would encourage you to get in touch if there’s anything at all that we can do to assist – PA employment related or not. We will do all we can.

Like everyone else, we hope the guidance to “socially distance” is not in place for too long and that you all remain safe and well during these challenging times. We will be working on other ideas to help people stay connected and supported and will hopefully have more to follow on this in due course.

Our first priority is ensuring the core services are still available and that we do everything we can to keep each of us safe and supported.

Colin Millar
Chief Executive Officer

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Real Living Wage Recognition

Living Wage partnership launched to end shortage of personal carers

A Scottish Government Minister has endorsed an initiative to address a serious shortage of carers for people who have been assessed as requiring social care support.

Jamie Hepburn, the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, welcomed the proposal, adding “The Scottish Government is clear that people who work in social care support provide an invaluable service and it’s absolutely right that they should be paid the real living wage.”

The Minister said the government’s commitment around the real living wage for adult social care staff was recognised by the Fair Wage Convention as an important step in addressing some of the challenges in the sector. He added: “The promotion of living wage accreditation for people employing their own carers is a great way of recognising that all social care workers should be paid the real living wage.”

The partnership between the Scottish Personal Assistant (PA) Employers Network (SPAEN) and the Workers Educational Association (WEA) will work to raise awareness amongst the PA employer network of the benefits of becoming Living Wage accredited and how this can help them to recruit and retain talented staff.

The partnership aims to provide practical support, guidance and assistance to PA employers to apply for and achieve Living Wage accreditation. Once accredited employers will be entitled to display the Living Wage Employer trademark on any associated job adverts. This accreditation is fast becoming a clear symbol of responsible employment practice among job applicants and will help PA employers secure status as employers of choice in the care sector.

Direct Payments, a means through which individuals can employ their own carers directly, was initially launched in 1998 but the number of people using this as a way of meeting their requirements continues to be very low.

A major part of the slow growth has been a dearth of available carers or PAs to meet the demand. The public perception of the role of personal carer has often been negative, with people wrongly assuming it is low paid, insecure and largely unrewarding work.

The payment of the real Living Wage (rLW) and being an rLW Accredited Employer aims to be a symbol of responsible business practice among employers, demonstrating that they are willing to go further than minimum wage levels and enabling their employees to better meet the costs of living. For employees in receipt of the rLW it is a sign that they are valued by their employers, that the work they do is important and it can be the basis of a worthwhile career.

SPAEN provides support to people who employ their own Personal Assistant whilst the WEA, via the Personal Assistants Network, supports PAs.

Offering Direct Payments, enabling people to become PA employers and the PA workforce are a vital part of national and local government’s aspirations to achieve person centred care in the community. Under the Self-Directed Support Strategy and Act, people in Scotland with assessed social care needs are offered the opportunity to receive a Direct Payment, a cash sum paid to the individual or their representative to enable them to purchase the care and support they require and desire to meet their assessed needs. This care is typically provided by PAs who support their respective employers’ in their own home or in the local community enabling eligible individuals to have more control over how, where, when and by who their assessed needs are met.

By paying the real Living Wage, it is hoped PA employers will be able to attract high quality personal assistants who can be secure in the knowledge they are receiving the market rate for their work. For the Personal Assistants themselves and those who aspire to be Personal Assistants, payment of the real Living Wage creates more and different career opportunities within the care sector and it is hoped this will also drive up awareness and recognition of the vital role PA’s play in Scotland’s social care mix.

Colin Millar, Chief Executive Officer at SPAEN, said “We’re delighted that our members and PA employers across Scotland will now be able to get the recognition they deserve as accredited living wage employers. This will help them to find, recruit and retain the very best, committed and skilled individuals and will demonstrate that private employment by Direct Payment users is a critical role in enabling people to live healthy, happy and meaningful lives within Scotland’s communities.

“Our own membership currently accounts for around £15m of social care spending each year, most of this going toward wages for PA’s delivering person-centred, flexible and vital support that enables people to continue living in their own homes or communities. For these committed employers to gain the same recognition as many of the bigger companies who are competing for the skills and talents of people in the community, this recognition will make a massive difference and will allow them to show that the role of a PA is extremely rewarding, both financially and in terms of job satisfaction’’.

Ray McCowan, Director of WEA Scotland, added “The WEA is delighted to be working in partnership with SPAEN and supported by the Poverty Alliance to promote the payment of the real Living Wage to all PAs across Scotland. PAs play an invaluable role in providing essential high-quality care to their service users. This work deserves to be recognised and rewarded appropriately through the payment of the real Living Wage and the WEA is proud to be working with SPAEN and the Poverty Alliance to achieve that.”

Jack Evans, Manager at Living Wage Scotland, which is hosted at the Poverty Alliance, said: “Living Wage Scotland’s mission is to tackle in-work poverty. The project is based on the twin belief that those working should not be earning less than they need to live on and that when employers choose to go beyond the minimum, they can see tangible business benefits. I welcome the announcement that SPAEN and WEA will be working in partnership to promote Living Wage accreditation throughout their networks.”

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Preparing for 2020

April 2020 will see a number of changes in U.K. employment legislation and regulation, all of which will directly affect PA employers in Scotland.  The main changes include:

  • Written contracts of employment

From 6th April 2020, every “worker” and “employee” will be entitled to a written contract of employment from day 1.  This removes and replaces the current grace period which allows a written contract to be provided within 2 months of starting and does not apply to “workers”.

This means that everyone using a Direct Payment (Option 1) will need to consider the legal status of those supporting them and determining whether they are a “worker” or an “employee” (and zero-hours contracts are included in these categories) and ensure a contract of employment is made available from day 1.  The content of the new contract of employment has also been enhanced.

Make sure your contracts of employment are compliant – call our membership team for support and advice on getting this right before you recruit

  • Holiday Pay

The “reference period” for calculating holiday pay is changing and this will also extend to people who are on “zero-hours” contracts.

Make sure your payroll team have updated their systems to ensure they use the new reference period for calculating holiday pay when this comes into force.

  • The Parental Bereavement (Leave & Pay) Act 2018

It is anticipated this will come into effect in April 2020 and will lay out the rights of parents who suffer the loss of a child.

Contact our membership team for more information on when this new right applies.

Speaking about the changes, SPAEN CEO, Colin Millar said,  “these are important and welcome changes to the rights of employees and workers but as always, these changes could have a disproportionate affect on people employing their own carers through a Direct Payment as they don’t have access to the same supports and services as many organisations and companies.

Simple changes in rights such as the right to a Statement of Main Terms or contract of employment from day 1 seem simple to implement but these changes need to be viewed in the context of social work systems.  Our experience at SPAEN is that people are often in post and delivering care and support long before the Direct Payment money has been made available, a PVG or other safe recruitment checks have been undertaken and a statement of main terms or contract of employment has even been thought about.

   It is more critical than ever, especially with more changes on the horizon as the U.K. leaves the E.U. where much of the employment legislation and regulation is derived from, that people wishing to exercise their right to Option 1 have sufficient, professional support in place.”

Need help:  SPAEN offers a range of independent, practical supports and services for PA Employers or people wishing to use a Direct Payment (Option 1).  Give our Support Services a call on 01698 250280 or drop us an e-mail to info@spaen.co.uk and find out how we can help.

 

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Poetic feedback

After a fantastic day meeting some of the #SPAENFamily members in Dumfries, I was genuinely moved to receive a poem penned by Joe McGurk, a long-time member of SPAEN.

The poem is beautifully written, captures the events of the day and portrays the emotions we, as a group, shared together.  Joe is a very talented wordsmith and to use his amazing ability to put on paper what occurred in that moment we all shared is something very special!

A million thanks Joe, your poem will take pride of place in our offices in Bellshill as a timely reminder to everyone who works, volunteers or supports SPAEN of the reason we exist and the difference we can make.

Please take a few moments to download and enjoy Joe’s poem.

Colin

The SPAEN Experience by Joe McGurk:

It started fine and pleasant,

This we’re in luck with,

Bgins, 9 are present,

It is constructive,

we were not at a loss.

get it on the graph,

the influence that is Ross,

great, what a laugh

ready to speak – all in,

get solutions,

speak to Colin,

talk of evolution,

we would work as a team,

to say what’s in the highs

Partnership, that’s the cream.

Things were very much simplified,

there is no reason why it’s dull,

talk of possible legal wrangle,

Who would be liable?

No worries, we’ve an angle!

The legal side, on facts,

let our work be with pride,

more than contracts,

the interest we’ve got is joint.

Think about what that is though,

it’s great having talking points.

such as tax issues,

from this so much we will get.

Curiosity, wow, it is thrilled,

different skill sets.

now we will build.

Having the chance of the stages,

Some set to wince?

so good to get answers on pages.

Talk about preference,

about the service.

PVG’s,

the points were this,

we see these,

all the ways,

plausible,

In terms of holidays,

what is possible?

People feeling fine are present,

have the highs,

time is of the essence,

how to advertise?

How to put it all,

all squint?

What is suitable,

see the small print.

Each opinion, we heard it out,

how clients will be empowered,

one value things is word of mouth.

How can build up hours.

Things were so swell,

each part went well,

talk of personnel,

in terms of the department.

At times I was Devil’s advocate,

let things get planned,

it just had to fit,

there are ways to expand.

People share their bliss,

the heights they’re to scale,

time to compare, awareness,

a delight at the Cairndale!

11.06.2019

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Get Networked

SPAEN is launching a range of new “closed Facebook groups” to allow Personal Assistant Employers across Scotland to network and connect.

The groups will be based on local authority council areas initially with SPAEN members on Facebook requesting to join the group or groups that are most relevant to them.  To get the groups started, the “administrator” role will be held with SPAEN but we’d like to encourage members and users to take greater control and ownership of the groups with individuals volunteering as “moderators” and “contributors”.

Because the group is closed, members of the group and their online discussions will be hidden from internet search engines, allowing you to talk openly and safely about your experience of being a PA employer; Self-directed Support or any other issue or topic you might think will be of interest to others in your area.

SPAEN Facebook groups will only be available to registered SPAEN members but we continue to welcome non-members on our open Facebook page where you can source the latest employment related updates.

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Payroll goes Portal

Keeping up with changes in legislation and regulation can be difficult.  At SPAEN, we aim to keep things as simple as possible that’s why we’re launching a new payroll portal for all Payroll and Managed Account customers.

The new payroll portal will ensure you comply with the new GDPR (Data Protection) regulations, allow you to upload timesheets direct to the portal rather than having to mail them to us; make pay adjustments quicker and simpler and provides you and your employees with quick, secure access to your payslips and related documents any time, any where.

We’ll be rolling out the new portal from 29th April 2019 and will be contacting all our members with a date and time to talk you through using the new portal, getting you and your PA’s set up and ready to use it and answering any questions you have.  You will shortly receive a letter offering you a telephone appointment with one of the SPAEN team so we can give you one-to-one support in preparing and getting the new system set up.

If you’re not currently using SPAEN’s payroll or managed account but would like more details, please e-mail us or call (01698) 250280 and we’d be happy to discuss your needs.