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Choice and Control in Adult Social Care
Support Equal Lives can offer you once you've decided how you'd like to receive social care
Direct Payments and Individual Service Funds
If you're eligible for Adult Social Care, you will have a choice of whether to arrange that support yourself or choose for the local authority to arrange the care for you.
It may seem like the easiest option to have the Council organise this care on your behalf - but this can take away some of your independence. Choosing to opt for a Direct Payment or an Individual Service Fund, means you have a lot more choice and control in what your support looks like.
The type of support you receive should be individual to you - and you should be in control. That's why we recommend people receiving Adult social Care opt to organise it themselves, and why we offer services that support you to do just that.
We understand that the thought of employing your own personal assistant, for example, can seem like a daunting task and something you might not feel confident to do.
We can help with that.
We offer a payroll and employment package that can help you be a good employer, find the right person to help you with your care, and manage the payroll - ensuring you're following best practise and the law.
Using a service like this can mean you get to choose the carers that come into your home, set a job description so you can decide what care and support you need, and means you can set the hours that work for you.
Payroll Services
If you're based in Norfolk, you can use our payroll services. We run payroll on a four-weekly basis for people who employ their own personal assistant/s.
To find out more about this service please fill in a contact form or email us. Alternatively, call us on 01508 491 222.
Contact Form
Email the Payroll Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Equal Lives provides a payroll service to support you to employ your own Personal Assistants. We will set up the employer on our systems, which also includes setting them up as an employer with HMRC. If you give us consent, we will act as your agent with HMRC. PAs will get paid every four weeks via our payroll. If they are currently paid differently to this, you will need to inform them of the change and give them appropriate notice. Employers are assigned a payroll colour relevant for their workers. You will have a deadline that the timesheet will need to be submitted by and a date the payments will be made if we hold your Direct Payment funds, or the date you need to pay the worker if you hold your own funds. It is your responsibility to check that the timesheets are completed accurately and submitted to us on time.
How does the payroll work?
How do my workers get paid?
You will need to tell us the hours your worker has worked for the relevant 4-week period. We need to know the hours per week and the pay rate. We will also need to know if they have taken holiday or been off sick (or any other leave such as maternity leave). You can complete a timesheet and send it in to us by post or email. Or you can just submit hours to us directly in an email, as long as it is clear how many hours each worker has worked and what their pay rate is for the four weeks you are submitting. The email address to use is timesheets@equallives.org.uk If we hold the funds for you then we will transfer the money from your holding account to the PA’s bank account directly. We will also make payments to HMRC and to pension providers. If you hold the money yourself, we will send you details of what needs to be paid and you should pay your worker in-line with the payroll dates.
When will my workers timesheets be paid?
When you join our services, you will be given a list of payroll dates. Payrolls are run every four weeks and as a general rule your timesheet needs to be with us by 4.30 pm on a Tuesday, ready to be paid on the “pay-day Friday”. However, this will change around bank holidays, especially at Christmas and New Year. You can download a dates list for your payroll below.
How will I know you have my timesheet?
The best way to send a timesheet is to email it directly to timesheets@equallives.org.uk and you will receive a confirmation that your email has been received.
What if my timesheet is late?
If your timesheet is late, we will pay this the following week. However, you can contact us on 01508 491222 and we will try and pay late timesheets where we can if this proves difficult for you. However, we cannot guarantee these will be paid if they are late.
If I send invoices or expenses to Equal Lives when can I expect these to be paid?
Any invoices received before 4.30pm on Thursday are paid the following Friday. For example, an invoice received on Thursday 1st May will be paid on Friday 9th May. You must ensure you have checked that what is being submitted to us is correct and you have signed the invoice or expenses sheet to show you have checked this. If you are funded by the NHS in Norfolk you will need to submit all receipts for expenses along with your expense forms. The invoice will also need to be approved by the CCG prior to us being able to make this payment, this could result in the invoices or expenses payment being delayed.