When you have a disability, finding the right disability support worker can be essential for maintaining your independence and quality of life.
You may find yourself facing a choice between hiring support workers independently or engaging a company to provide support services. In this blog post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of each option to help you make an informed decision.
Hiring Independent Support Workers
One option is to hire disability support workers independently. This means finding and hiring your own support staff, who will work directly for you. Some of the advantages of this option include:
- Control: When you hire your own support workers, you have full control over who you hire and how they work. This can be particularly important for people with disabilities who have specific needs or preferences.
- Flexibility: You can negotiate the terms of your support worker’s employment, such as pay rates, hours of work, and duties. This flexibility can be particularly important for people with disabilities who may need support at irregular times or for specific tasks. Bear in mind that your needs are not the only consideration as you may still have to honor conditions in industrial awards.
- Personal Connection: Hiring your own support workers can allow you to develop a personal connection with them, which can lead to a more positive and fulfilling relationship.
However, there are also some disadvantages to hiring support workers independently:
- Administrative Burden: Hiring and managing staff can be time-consuming and can require a lot of administrative work, such as payroll, taxes, and insurance.
- Responsibility: As the employer, you are responsible for ensuring that your support workers are trained, qualified, and reliable.
- Risk: There is always a risk that your support worker may quit suddenly, leaving you without support until you can find a replacement, or may call in sick at short notice leaving you without support.
Engaging a Company to Provide Support Workers
Another option is to engage a company to provide disability support services. This means that the company will hire and manage support workers on your behalf. Some of the advantages of this option include:
- Reduced Administrative Burden: Engaging a company can reduce the administrative burden of hiring and managing support workers, as the company takes care of all the paperwork and logistics.
- Availability: Companies typically have a pool of support workers, which means that they can provide support at short notice and can replace workers who quit or become unavailable.
- Quality Assurance: Companies typically have processes in place to ensure that their support workers are trained, qualified, and reliable.
However, there are also some disadvantages to engaging a company:
- Limited Control: When you engage a company to provide support workers, you may have less control over who is assigned to work with you, their qualifications, and their approach to working with you. Specifically under the NDIS, you have a right to choice and control and most companies will work with you collaboratively rather than try to impose a worker on you.
- Cost: Engaging a company can be more expensive than hiring support workers independently, as you are paying for the the additional work that it takes to manage a team of support workers and other staff.
- Less Personal Connection: You may not have the opportunity to develop a personal connection with your support workers, as they are employed by the company rather than directly by you.
Final thoughts:
Deciding whether to hire disability support workers independently or engage a company to provide support services is a personal decision that will depend on your individual needs, preferences, and circumstances. Ultimately, both options have their pros and cons, and it is up to you to weigh up these factors and decide which option is best for you. Whatever you decide, it is important to remember that finding the right support workers is key to maintaining your independence and quality of life.
Note : Heartfelt Support are a company who employ support workers. We recognise that people have different needs and using a company may be the best option for some people and not for others. In particular, people who are confident with hiring processes, HR and Industrial relations law and processes, managing a payroll and can administer their financial affairs to ensure workers are paid on time and correctly may benefit from using independants.