Caregiver jobs and work FAQs

Please include a full and up-to-date CV with your application and ensure you complete the Data Protection and Home Office disclaimer. You will then be contacted by a member of our recruitment team to discuss your application further.

British and EU passport holders are able to work in the UK without restrictions. If you are applying from outside these countries you will require a work permit. If you are a Commonwealth citizen and have a grandparent born in the UK you are entitled to an ancestral visa.

We recommend that you approach your local British consulate who will be able to advise on the type of visa you require. You will then need to send all the relevant forms and documents to the British consulate office in your home country. This can take some time so please allow for delay.

We also accept applications from those who are married to a member of an EEA national (spousal visa), have Indefinite Leave to Remain, Right to Abode, have been granted asylum, or have qualified for a visa on the UK points-based system.

Please note that we will need to see all original relevant work permits and Home Office letters before you are able to register with Corinium Care.

All carers are legally required to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) with the Disclosure and Barring Service including a DBS Adult First check.

If your application is successful you will be provided with all the necessary forms and further information will be provided on the documents we will need to see in order to send it off. The current fee that the UKHCA requires for the check is £63.20.

The DBS now offers the option to join an update service which allows certificates to be kept up-to-date and transferred to different agencies/employers via an online system. The fee for this service is £13 per year and can currently only be applied for online at www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

If you have committed an offence your suitability to be a live-in carer will be evaluated against the type of offence, whether it is ‘spent’ or ‘unspent’, when it was committed, and whether Corinium Care feels it would have any influence on your ability to be a safe and effective carer without putting anyone at risk. If you would like further information on your rights, please see the DBS’s code of practice found at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service

It is not essential but preferable. Depending on your home country you can usually drive on your current driving licence for a year without applying for an international driver’s licence. An international driver’s licence is obtainable through either the AA or RAC. Some insurance or hire companies can require you to have an international licence, so it is best to look into acquiring one.
http://www.theaa.com/
http://www.rac.co.uk/

You are eligible to drive on your original driver’s licence for up to a year from the last date of entry into the UK. If you remain in the UK after that year has ceased you MUST apply for a British driver’s licence.

If you are required to drive a client’s car, make sure that either your own or the client’s insurance policy covers you. Corinium Care is not liable in the event of an accident.

If you prefer to use your own car to drive the client or use your car during your stay, please ensure your insurance policy covers you for business use. This usually does not incur any extra cost, but we do advise you to contact your own insurance company to check.

If you intend to use your own car we MUST annually have a copy of your driving licence, insurance policy and MOT certificate for your file before we can engage you to work with a client who requires a driver.

On receipt of your completed application form and the relevant documentation we will contact you to discuss your application, letting you know if further information or documents are required. Before we can process your application we require three satisfactory responses from your referees. It is advisable to provide email addresses or fax numbers to speed up the process.

If we receive suitable responses and approve your application, we invite you to attend our induction and training course .This is a five-day course generally held once a month at our offices in Gloucestershire. Please bear in mind that we cannot book you on to the training programme until we have completed all your paperwork. You will only be registered on our list of carers if you successfully complete the five days of interview, induction, training and assessment.

Our induction and training course and assessment is held over five days and is an introduction to Corinium Care, how we work and preparation for work with our clients. It includes an interview with a Care Manager so that we can assess the type of client that would best suit you.

Applicants are required to complete a number of questionnaires and scenario tests to assist the Corinium Care team in understanding more about your approach to the caring process. It is a fairly intensive course and homework is supplied on most evenings.

Our courses are generally held one week per month, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, and we recommend you secure your place on a training course before making your travel arrangements.

Included in the Corinium Care training course are Moving and Handling and First Aid, which are both very physical, so you need to be fit. Practical tasks include kneeling on the floor and getting back on your feet so you must feel confident in your ability to do this.

You are required to sign a disclaimer stating that you have no serious back problems and that you are not pregnant. These are both essential sections of the course, and failure of one or both of these modules will result in a carer not being put forward for work.

We also use the training week to complete any paperwork.

Please note: we will need to see either certified copies or originals of at least three of the following documents: passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, driving licence (UK), utility bill or bank/landline phone statement. Further details will be provided when an invitation to a training course is issued.  We provide further guidance on what you need to provide if you are invited on to a course.

You do not need any specific qualifications to become a carer. Caring relies on your attitude and ability to be compassionate, patient and understanding. Certain qualities make a better carer, ie, flexibility, cheerfulness, a good sense of humour and excellent housekeeping skills.

Our preferred criteria are for carers to be a driver, non-smoker, have good housekeeping skills and be good with household pets. Experience can be a major advantage but is not essential and can be gained on the job.

We do suggest that overseas carers try to allow a few days after arriving in the country to organise bank accounts, mobile phones, sim cards and travel arrangements, etc. Although Nailsworth, where Corinium Care is based, has most amenities, shops and businesses are only open between 9am and 5pm which is when the course is taking place.
If you want to start work with the minimum delay we recommend that you sort out the above before the course begins.

When arriving in the UK, please book your ticket to arrive a few days before the course.

During the training week, you will need to pay for the following: transport to your B&B the day before the course starts; accommodation priced at £30-£40 per night (subject to change); DBS fee, £63.20.
We provide a free lunch each day and your B&B offers a breakfast each morning.

To apply for a National Insurance number you will need to contact Jobcentreplus on 0345 600 0643.
If you are aged over state pension age then you need to apply for a National Insurance number but you will also need to ask for an exemption certificate, as you will not have to pay National Insurance.
We advise that you look into doing this before coming to the training: taking a day off whilst working could mean that you will need to take a whole week off.

A mobile phone is something we would highly recommend because carers are not always based in the same place. Having a mobile (cell) phone means that both Corinium Care staff and your family will always be able to contact you on. It can also severely reduce stress on handover days when delays can cause problems and good communication is of the essence.
Carers from abroad will need to buy a new sim card for their phone and possibly a new phone.
http://shop.orange.co.uk/
http://store.virginmedia.com/virgin-media-mobile.html

Although most international carers come to the UK for a few months at a time please remember that you will be travelling around the country, probably on public transport. It is best to travel light and only bring essentials. You will have full access to the washing facilities at all clients’ homes.
It is vital that you bring a number of documents (we will specify nearer the time of training) that identify you, such as passport, driving licence, and utility bills if resident in the UK, etc.  You will not be able to continue with the training if you have not brought the correct documents with you.

As an agency we cannot guarantee work to anyone. Due to the nature of live-in care work our situation can change from day to day, eg, clients may go into hospital unexpectedly, etc. However, we work very hard to match your caring skills with the client’s needs.

We advise that it is essential to have enough funds to cover your own accommodation and living expenses for at least 1-2 weeks during and after the interview and training process.

We work hard to ensure our clients and carers are well matched which limits stress and upset to all parties. For this very reason, however, it may not be possible to engage you immediately after the training course.

As a care worker you choose your own work pattern, but please try and give the Corinium Care bookings team as much notice as possible if you decide to take time off, the more notice you give us the better.

Our working week generally runs from Wednesday to Wednesday and the minimum placements are usually for one week or longer. That means that if you want a couple of days off you need to take a full week off. We will happily put you on the standby list for emergency work if you find yourself available for a few spare days.

A carer’s working week runs from Wednesday to Wednesday. As care workers, you tell us when you want to work and you decide how many weeks you want to work for. If you would like work as soon as possible and we have all the appropriate paperwork we will endeavour to look for work for you from the first Wednesday following your interview and training. However, we prefer to place you with the right client from the start, rather than rush you into an unsuitable assignment.

You will be advised of this depending on the client that you are caring for.

We recommend that you consult your bank in your home country about operating a bank account in the UK. Your local bank may have a special relationship with a bank in the UK and be able to assist in setting up an account over here.

Those coming from abroad may find it tricky setting up a bank account in the UK as each bank has a different policy and applies different conditions.  You must assume that it will take at least 2-3 weeks to open an account and make provisions for your finances in the interim.

We recommend you open an account in a branch close to your base address in the UK. It is also useful to bring a letter of reference from your own bank stating how long you have banked with them, what accounts you operate and credit rating. Bank statements for at least the last three months are also helpful.

There are companies which help organise bank accounts but these can be expensive. We encourage all carers to try and arrange a bank account before coming to the training.

Most banks will need proof of a UK address in the form of a utility bill or official letters from different sources. If you cannot supply this they will write to your bank at home for confirmation. This can take 4 to 6 weeks. You must have your current home bank account details when visiting the UK bank. Please note that we cannot provide you with a letter until you have successfully completed our training and assessment course.

Yes, it is absolutely essential that you have a base address in the UK. This is for two reasons. First, work is never guaranteed and we cannot promise that there will not be weeks where work is not available and you will need somewhere to stay. Second, it is easier to obtain a UK bank account when you have a UK address.

Having a base address is the easiest option for receiving mail. But please never give out a client’s address to friends, family and/or business organisations such as mail order catalogue companies, because all client information is strictly confidential.

If you have an important letter which it is essential to receive, we are happy for it to be sent to the Corinium Care office and we will forward it onto you, wherever you might be based. We do ask, however, that this service is not abused. As you can imagine, with many of our carers coming from abroad, it would be an enormous task to forward personal mail to every one of them.

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