If you employ a personal assistant or carer, it is important that you are aware of the following information regarding changes to the law which are relevant to you as an employer. If you are not an employer, for example, if you use Agency carers, you may ignore this article.

From 1 October 2007 the National Minimum Wage will increase.

• The rate for adults (workers aged 22 and over) will increase to £5.52
  per hour.
• The development rate for 18-21 year olds will increase to £4.60.
• The development rate for 16-17 year olds will increase to £3.40.

You need not take any further action if your employees already earn above
these new National Minimum Wage rates.

For those employers who provide live-in accommodation for their personal
assistant or carer, the rate for the accommodation offset against the national
minimum wage will increase to £30.10 per week (£4.30 per day).

Changes to statutory minimum holiday entitlement

From October 1st 2007, the statutory minimum holiday entitlement for all
workers will increase from 4 weeks to 4.8 weeks (pro-rata for those working
part-time) and from 4.8 weeks to 5.6 weeks from April 1st 2009 (pro-rata for
part-time).

Note: If your employees already receive a holiday entitlement that
equals, or is greater than the new statutory minimum being introduced on
October 1st 2007, then you need take no action.

Personal assistants or carers employed by you whose existing entitlement is
less than the new statutory minimum will be entitled to an increase in their
annual leave, whatever their work pattern i.e. whether full time, part-time,
flexible hours, shifts, permanent, temporary or casual work.

However, the new legislation does allow a certain degree of flexibility. For
example:

• Until 1 April 2009 and, only if both you and your employee agree, you can
  give payment in lieu of the additional holiday entitlement. For statutory leave
  entitlement accruing after 1st April 2009, payment in lieu will not be
  permitted.
• In any circumstances, four weeks' leave (pro-rata for part time) must be
  taken in each leave year. However, only if both you and your employee agree,
  any unused additional holiday entitlement can be carried over to the following
  leave year.

If neither of the above are mutually agreed upon, you must allow your
employee to take the calculated additional entitlement in the same annual leave
year.

To avoid any future misunderstanding or queries, we advise that wherever
possible, the agreement and/or notification of the new entitlement is recorded
in writing and given to your employee and a copy kept by you for your records.

The calculation of the new statutory minimum holiday entitlement may be
straightforward or more complex, depending upon individual circumstances and
patterns of work. In order to do a correct calculation, you must know the start
date of your annual leave year for each person you employ. This may be one of
the following:

• If the employment contract already specifies when the annual leave year
  begins, or it has been mutually agreed, or it has become custom and practice,
  then that date must be used.

If none of the above is applicable, the rules are as follows:

• If employment started before October 1st 1998, the annual leave year
  begins on October 1st
• If employment started after October 1st 1998, the annual leave year begins
  on the date that employment began

We have written to your local authority to see whether they are going to
review the Direct Payment rate in the light of the changes to the law and we
will let you know of any clarification we receive. However, in the mean time if
you have any concerns about whether you can afford the increase to cover the
additional holiday entitlement, you should contact Social Services.

For further information about the new holiday entitlement you could go to
the following links:

www.berr.gov.uk/employment/holidays/faq/index.html

www.businesslink.gov.uk

www.acas.org.uk

You can also contact the ACAS Helpline on 08457 474747. They can provide
you with information about how to calculate the new entitlement based on the
information you provide, but they will not actually do the calculation for you,
for legal reasons.

If you use the Rowan Organisation's Payroll Service you can contact the
person who normally does your wages on 0800 783 1755. If they need further
information in order to do the calculation, they may need to liaise with an
Independent Living Adviser in your area.

Where there is uncertainty or complexity regarding your employees' existing
contract or entitlements, an Independent Living Adviser may be required to
support you. You can contact him/her via our Head Office number 0800 783 1755.

For general information about the changes to the law or any other issue
related to this, you can contact the Rowan Organisation's Information Service
on 0800 783 1755.