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Live in carer jobs

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What is a live in carer?

A live-in carer provides round-the-clock support for someone who chooses to live in their own home.

As a live-in carer, you'll move into your customer's home and live with them, providing support whenever they require. We'll make sure you're trained to help your customer in a wide range of ways - from personal care and bathing, to accompanying them to appointments and carrying out household duties. You'll get to spend quality time with them and provide vital companionship, but you'll also get time and space to yourself.

Elderly lady dining table dosette box glass of water female carer crouching down kitchen

What does a live in carer do?

Meal preparation

Providing a diverse range of healthy meals can be a huge part of effective live-in care. Our live-in carers offer meal preparation for breakfast, lunch and dinner, although some customers choose to do their own cooking.

Medication

One of the things you'll learn on your assessment day is how to help a customer administer their medication in a safe and appropriate manner.

Pet care

One of the benefits of receiving care at home is that customers are not parted from their furry friends. Some of our live-in carers help out by taking pets for walks and ensuring they're properly fed.

Running errands

It's likely that your customer will be living with limited mobility, so they may ask you to do their weekly shopping for them or pick up a prescription on their behalf.

Household chores

Taking care of the time-consuming tasks around the home gives your customer the opportunity to devote their energy to the things they enjoy.

Personal care

A big reason why many people opt for live-in care is so they have round-the-clock assistance with routines such as toileting, bathing and dressing.

Companionship

One of your main responsibilities will be to ensure your customer isn't left feeling isolated or unsupported. Companionship might mean sitting down with them for a cup of tea while you watch a quiz show together.

Mobility assistance

You may need to help your customer access certain parts of their home and support with strenuous activities like getting into bed. We'll make sure you're fully trained to provide safe mobility assistance.

Nurse-supported care

If your customer is living with a complex or advanced medical condition, it's likely they'll require more sophisticated care. In this instance, you may work alongside a fully-qualified nurse to provide clinical care.

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Live in carer pay and benefits

As the nation’s leading home care specialist, all of our carers are employed directly by us. No franchises. No agencies. No tax returns for you to complete. And no feelings of you being left alone without support.

First-rate support

Your local care manager and care coordinator will provide dedicated, ongoing support

Employee benefits

You'll get access to our employee benefits portal, with thousands of fantastic offers and deals

Direct employment

You'll get 23 days' annual leave, plus access to our company pension scheme

Refer-a-friend scheme

We offer £100 to anyone who refers a friend to us (subject to T&Cs)

High pay rate

We pay a higher wage than other home care companies across the UK*

Career growth

We'll support your personal development through training and qualifications

Flexible working

Tell us when you're available so that work fits around your lifestyle

Not a care agency

We employ you directly, so you are covered in absence and receive full training from us

Your application process

Once you've applied for your ideal position, there are four simple stages remaining in the process:

Invitation to interview

A member of our recruitment team will contact you for an interview

Pre-employment checks

You'll need to undergo an enhanced DBS check and provide at least two references

Assessment days

After your interview, we'll invite you to an assessment program at one of our regional centres

Begin your new role

You'll be ready to start your carer journey with us!

Apply today

What live in carer contracts are available?

We are proud to be one of the top-paying home care providers for our live-in carers. Take a look below at some of the different options available to you:

0 hour contract

Up to £675

per week

40 weeks per year

£29,138

per annum

46 weeks per year

£33,800

per annum

Employed vs. self-employed

There’s so much more value when you’re part of our team!

We understand that being your own boss is a desirable way to work, with flexibility and independence. However, when you work with Helping Hands, you can still enjoy the benefits that come with self-employment as well as plenty of extras!

Helping Hands Live-in carer with Helping Hands

self-employed Self-employed live-in carer

Weekly salary

Earn up to £700 per week

*Earn up to £800 per week

Employer pension

Earn up to £2.53 per week

None

Paid holidays

We give you 28 days paid holiday pro-rata.

Earn up to £84.49 per week

None

Tax & NI Payments managed for you

Don’t forget! Hiring an accountant is expensive.

Up to double pay on Bank Holidays

Travel costs paid between packages

Equipment and uniform provided

Regular and consistent pay

24/7 support

Support when you need it from our team of experts

*based on the average UK salary of a self-employed live-in carer

Helping Hands

self-employed

Weekly salary

Employer pension

Paid holidays

Tax & NI Payments managed for you

Up to double pay on Bank Holidays

Travel costs paid between packages

Equipment and uniform provided

Regular and consistent pay

24/7 support

A whole host of benefits

Get the whole package with Helping Hands

Holiday Pay and 3% Employer Pension

Self-employment means you’ll miss out on the paid benefits of annual leave and an employer pension. At Helping Hands, we provide these to make your life easier.

Free Blue Light Card

Every carer with Helping Hands will receive a free Blue Light Card! With hundreds of retailers offering generous discounts, you can save money every day.

Training and Development

We’re passionate about growing our people and retaining the amazing talent at Helping Hands. During 2021, we promoted 321 employees - it could be you next!

Early Pay

With our new Early Pay App, you can take up to 50% of what you have earned at any time during the month, with no fees and no interest. Ideal for those pesky surprise bills.

Free Uniform and Equipment

Being self-employed means you also incur the costs of buying your own supplies. At Helping Hands, we take care of that for you, so you never have to worry about it.

Employee Assistance Programme

You’re able to access professional counselling, in strict confidence, to help with major life issues including stress, debt and bereavement as well as lots of other advice.

What do you need to be a carer?

Being a carer is one of the most rewarding jobs there is. Believe us, we know.

We only employ those who have certain characteristics that we would want if our own loved ones were being cared for by someone else. After all, customers are welcoming someone new into their home, so they have to trust that we are selecting only the best carers to join our team. When recruiting live-in carers, we choose those that are empathetic, patient, kind and who are willing to go the extra mile for the person entrusted into their care. You don’t need any specific qualifications to be a live-in carer, and although previous care experience is a plus, it isn’t a necessity. Just the will to care for others with compassion and dignity.

Live in carer with customer in wheelchair

Elderly male checked shirt sitting on sofa playing cards with male carer green shirt

Assessment and selection

Our carer assessment process is designed to give you the skills to be the best live-in carer you can be.

Your assessment day will cover a number of modules via classroom sessions and practical activities, ensuring you're fully prepared to offer bespoke, holistic live-in care.

What our live in carer assessment and selection process covers

Our live-in carer assessment and selection process is flexible and designed to give you the skills to be the best live-in carer you can be. We’ll cover a mixture of classroom sessions and practical activities, meaning you’ll develop the skills and knowledge to be happy and confident in your new role.

Elderly lady smiling shirt female carer green top yellow cushions

First aid

From injuries to CPR, learn how to tend to a customer in an emergency

Our values

Family-led and exceptional standards of care with kindness at the core

Dementia awareness

Support your customer to live well with dementia in the home they love

Safeguarding

Keeping your customer safe and knowing the warning signs to look out for

Administering medication

Safe handling of medication, recording, management and reporting errors

Manual handling

Hoisting, using mobility aids and assisting your customer to move around their home safely

Continuous development

Learning new skills, developing your knowledge and progressing your career in care

Health and safety

Awareness of accident prevention and protecting yourself and your customer

Live in carer FAQs

Does the role of a live-in carer mean I live with the customer?: Yes, a live-in carer lives in the customer’s home and is on-hand for the majority of each day. Most of our carers work for blocks of five to eight weeks at a time between breaks.
Will I have my own room?: Yes, we ensure that all live-in customers are able to provide a separate room for you before confirming their care. In fact, before you are assigned to a placement, an assessor will go to the customer’s home to check that it is suitable for you
When do I take my breaks?: During your placement Each live-in carer gets 14 hours of breaks from their customer each week, so you can take some time to yourself to unwind or take part in one of your hobbies. Each of our live-in care customers have individual care needs, so we review each care package on an individual basis to ensure that you can take the downtime you need, with suitable cover in place so the customer is not without care. Breaks between placementsLive-in care placements are flexible and built around the needs of the customer. Most of them last for a period of weeks, and then you may take a long period of leave. As a live-in carer, we do ask that you commit to a minimum of three weeks to enable us to cover our shorter-term placements, not only to provide continuity to the customer, but to enable you to build a relationship with every customer you care for.
Am I employed by the person I’m caring for?: No, as we are a private home care company and not an agency, you will be employed directly by Helping Hands. This means we recruit, assess and manage all of our carers, enabling us to keep your training up to date and have more control over your care arrangement to ensure your satisfaction.
Will I have someone to contact in an emergency?: Yes. Our carers are never left unsupported, no matter the time of day or night. If you need assistance in office hours, you can call your dedicated live-in care coordinator or field-based care manager. If you urgently need to speak to somebody outside of office hours, we have a dedicated 24-hour carer support helpline, which we’ll provide you with once you are on board.
Do I need a driving licence?: Whilst the ability to drive might prove beneficial to your customer as you have more flexibility to take them out and about, a driving licence is not a requirement for live-in carers. If the customer still has a car, we often suggest that you are added to the family’s insurance policy, providing you have a full clean UK driving licence, or a driving licence from overseas if you are confident to drive in the UK.
Do I get paid weekly or monthly?: All live-in carers are paid on a monthly basis, and as you are directly employed by us, we also take care of your tax and national insurance paperwork. As an employee of Helping Hands, you are also entitled to statutory sick pay, paid annual leave and a pension scheme.
What is a care plan?: A care plan is written by your manager during the assessment of each customer, detailing the medication, medical conditions and care requirements of the customer, so you have full instruction on the care you need to provide to your customer.
Do you carry out risk assessments?: Yes. When a customer confirms that they would like to go ahead with live-in care, a member of our assessment team visits the customer to perform a risk assessment. The information from that assessment will then be detailed in the care plan.

*From a comparison on 3,492 employees, users and past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 12 months taken on 23 February 2022. Helping Hands carer salaries were 16% higher than the average.