Mycare's guide to setting a fair and equitable rate for your independent support worker.
It’s important to remember that we all struggle with discussions about pay. How much should I offer? How much should an independent support worker ask for? What are other people paying? What is a fair rate? And when it comes to this type of work, the answers are not always straightforward.
Here are our top tips
Understanding where and how far your money goes
Take time to consider the care you need and the workers themselves. Are certain skills or experience needed? What will the hours be? What are the complexities of the role?
Having an appropriate rate will ensure you find the right worker. You don’t want to have to compromise on quality or loyalty because it is a low rate for the role requirements.
The final decision will always come down to you, what you can afford and the amount you are comfortable with.
Add 15% to your usual employee hourly rate
The community of people finding work via Mycare are 'independent contractors,' and not employees. This means, among other things, they take care of their own holiday and sick leave, Kiwisaver and ACC. Because of this, we recommend that a contractor rate is approx 15% higher than an employee, to accommodate for the expenses that contracted workers take care of (and are not a cost to you). At Mycare, we want to support both sides of our community to be able to live decent lives and have decent work.
Consider the living wage
The living wage is the income necessary to provide workers and their families with the necessities of life. New Zealand’s living wage rate is voluntary and has been calculated at $27.80 per hour. As above, we would recommend adding 15% to this to truly reflect a contractor living wage which is $31.97.
Overnight Rates
The above information does still need to be considered for overnight rates, but often they are set up a bit differently. Commonly overnight rates are set rates and not hourly and cover around 8hrs.
It is good practice to set the number of hours based on the client's sleep schedule. For example, if the client goes to bed at 10 pm and then wakes up around 6 am you can set the overnight rate for those 8 hours, then use the worker's usual hourly rate any extra hours outside of this.
You will need to consider the type of overnight shift that will be needed.
Sleep Role: A carer is needed for emergency supervision, they will only need to get up if there is an emergency or the odd bathroom run. Recommended rates (for an 8hr shift) sit at $180-$220 per night
Awake Role: A carer is needed to stay awake to supervise or is expected to get up multiple times a night. Recommended rates (for an 8hr shift) sit at $250+ per night