The employment conditions of social care personal assistants in England

TY - JOUR

T1 - The employment conditions of social care personal assistants in England

AU - Woolham, John Gordon

AU - Norrie, Caroline Margaret

AU - Samsi, Kritika

AU - Manthorpe, Jill

PY - 2019/11/28

Y1 - 2019/11/28

N2 - This paper describes the employment conditions of social care Personal Assistants (PAs) in England. In England disabled adults have been able to directly employ people to meet their care or support needs for a number of years, little is known about their employment conditions. PAs were recruited mainly through 3rd sector and user led organisations. 105 social care PAs’ took part in a semi-structured telephone interview. The average duration of which was one hour. Interviews were fully transcribed. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS (v.24) and qualitative data by NVIVO software. The paper focuses on employment conditions, including contracts, pensions, pay national insurance, and have entitlement to overtime, payment for cancelled visits, holiday and sick pay etc.. Access to training and support are also considered. Though PAs enjoyed considerable job satisfaction, many did not enjoy good employment conditions. Though employer abuse was uncommon, occupational isolation and lack of support to resolve disputes was striking. Research limitationsThe study is relatively small and no claims for generalisability are made, though the geographical spread of the sample was wide and recruited from multiple sites. PAs are an effective way of establishing relationship-based care, and direct control to disabled employers. However, lack of regulation and oversight creates potential for exploitation or abuse. This may make the role less attractive to potential PAs in the medium term. Social implicationsOriginality/valueLittle is known about PA working conditions. This study suggests that more could be done toimprove these.

AB - This paper describes the employment conditions of social care Personal Assistants (PAs) in England. In England disabled adults have been able to directly employ people to meet their care or support needs for a number of years, little is known about their employment conditions. PAs were recruited mainly through 3rd sector and user led organisations. 105 social care PAs’ took part in a semi-structured telephone interview. The average duration of which was one hour. Interviews were fully transcribed. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS (v.24) and qualitative data by NVIVO software. The paper focuses on employment conditions, including contracts, pensions, pay national insurance, and have entitlement to overtime, payment for cancelled visits, holiday and sick pay etc.. Access to training and support are also considered. Though PAs enjoyed considerable job satisfaction, many did not enjoy good employment conditions. Though employer abuse was uncommon, occupational isolation and lack of support to resolve disputes was striking. Research limitationsThe study is relatively small and no claims for generalisability are made, though the geographical spread of the sample was wide and recruited from multiple sites. PAs are an effective way of establishing relationship-based care, and direct control to disabled employers. However, lack of regulation and oversight creates potential for exploitation or abuse. This may make the role less attractive to potential PAs in the medium term. Social implicationsOriginality/valueLittle is known about PA working conditions. This study suggests that more could be done toimprove these.

KW - Direct employment

KW - Disabled people

KW - Employment conditions

KW - Exploitation

KW - Relationship-based care and support

KW - Social care personal assistants

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074363415&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1108/JAP-06-2019-0017

DO - 10.1108/JAP-06-2019-0017

M3 - Article

SN - 1466-8203

VL - 21

SP - 296

EP - 306

JO - Journal of Adult Protection

JF - Journal of Adult Protection

IS - 6

ER -