Job Description
Care Assistant, St Albans: home visits close to our office
£14.50 up to £28.00 an hour plus lots of benefits, full list below.
Full time and part time hours available | No experience necessary (full training provided)
You will need the right to work in the UK (we are not able to offer visa sponsorship).
You must have a full UK driving licence and your own car.
Visits across St Albans and the surrounding villages.
By half past seven in St Albans, the first kettles are on. For some of the people we look after, the day properly starts when their carer comes through the door: a familiar face, a cheerful hello, help to get washed and dressed, and breakfast made the way they like it.
That carer could be you. Our office is here in St Albans, so the people who plan your rounds, answer your calls and back you up are minutes away, not a call centre in another county.
We started Starling Homecare around carers like that: someone who turns up when they said they would, knows the client by name and by habit, does the small things properly, and treats people the way you would want your own mum or dad treated. That is the whole idea.
We are a family owned, independently run homecare provider based in St Albans, founded by a husband and wife with more than a decade of building and running an award-winning homecare service in Hertfordshire. We are CQC registered, we provide visiting care across St Albans, Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn Hatfield and live-in care across Hertfordshire, and we are growing, building the kind of team that clients ask for by name. We are committed to supporting as many people as possible across Hertfordshire to receive high quality care at home, and great care is delivered by the carer at the door. We built this company around you: you are recognised, backed and valued here.
Working in St Albans
This role is based on our St Albans rounds, visiting clients in their own homes across the city and the surrounding villages. Because the office is local, the people who plan your week and support you are close by. Most of your travel is short hops between visits, and every mile between visits is paid at 40p.
The pay, in full
You start on £14.50 an hour on weekdays and £15.00 an hour at weekends, paid for every visit you work.
After your first three months you can move to our Committed Availability Rate: £16.00 an hour, every hour, weekdays and weekends alike. It is the same job at a higher basic rate, written into your contract rather than paid as a bonus, and it stays with you for as long as you keep the availability you have committed to.
Here is how you get there. Your first three months are about settling in: learning how we work, getting to know your clients and finding the pattern of hours that fits your life. At the end of those three months we sit down together and look at the availability you have been keeping. If you have been signed off, your availability matches the pattern below and our clients need those hours, we invite you onto the £16.00 rate. The route is the same for everyone, and it is open to everyone.
The pattern we look for is around 40 hours of availability a week at the times our clients need us most: first thing in the morning, in the evening and at weekends.
- Every other weekend, both days, with either a morning (7am to 2pm) or an evening (4pm to 10pm) on each day, and
- Any one of these three: all five weekday mornings (7am to 2pm), all five weekday evenings (4pm to 10pm), or six weekday blocks with at least two of them evenings
You will not always work every hour you are available for. What matters is that the availability is real and stays open to us, because that is what gives our clients consistent carers and gives you consistent earnings. If your availability changes, we talk it through with you first, and the rate follows your availability. If your week looks different, you are still very welcome here: it is the same role on the Standard Rate, and the invitation stays open if your availability changes later.
On top of your hourly rate
- Rate uplift to £21.00 an hour on bank holidays
- Rate uplift to £28.00 an hour on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
- 40p per mile between visits
- £200 welcome bonus after your first three months, on the terms set out in your offer letter
- Uniform and PPE provided
- Company pension
The work
In St Albans you will usually see the same clients across the week, so they get to know you and you get to know them. You will support people in their own homes with the things that let them stay there: getting up and ready for the day, meals, medication prompts, keeping the house the way they like it, getting out and about, and company. You will see the same clients regularly, so you know them and they know you. You will notice when something is not right and say so. And once you have found your feet, you will help welcome and guide the carers who join after you, because the standard we set is passed on person to person.
Who we are looking for
Experience is welcome and not required. We train you properly and you shadow experienced carers before your first visit on your own. What we cannot train is who you are: kind, reliable and calm, someone who leads with their heart and takes pride in doing things properly. You would be comfortable if the person you were caring for was your own family.
Looking after the people who look after others
Caring is demanding work, done well by people who give a great deal of themselves. We believe the people who care for our clients deserve to be cared for too, and we have built that belief into how we reward the team.
Once you have completed your first six months with us, you will be invited to join our wellbeing package. It brings together support for your health, your wellbeing and your everyday spending: a GP when you need one, someone to talk to when you need that, help with your health and fitness, and savings on the things you already buy. It includes:
- 24/7 on-demand GP service with video, phone and text appointments
- Unlimited digital physiotherapy
- Online eye health screening
- Menopause health support
- Up to eight sessions of counselling per issue each year with accredited therapists
- Confidential one to one life coaching
- Digital gym with a weekly timetable of classes and workouts
- 24/7 legal and debt helplines
- Weekly wellbeing webinars, e-learning and guides
- Over 1,500 savings and discounts on everyday shopping, refreshed weekly
- Discounted gym memberships at over 4,000 fitness centres
- Cashback on everyday spending
- Cinema tickets at up to 60% off
- Free vehicle accident recovery
- Complimentary will writing and storage service
- 24/7 pet health service with access to qualified vets
You will need
- A full UK driving licence and your own car
- The right to work in the UK (we are unable to offer sponsorship or visa transfer)
- To live within easy reach of St Albans, and to be happy travelling between our clients in and around St Albans
- Availability to work every other weekend. Beyond that, tell us what works for you and your life; the full pattern above is for the £16.00 rate later, not a condition of starting
Why people stay
- A small, close team where the directors know you by name
- A named person in the office who answers when you call
- Full training at no cost to you, and where funded qualifications are available you may be invited to apply
- Real opportunities to progress as we grow
- A kind, respectful and professional working culture rooted in family values
Questions people ask about this job
How much do care assistants earn at Starling Homecare in St Albans?
You start on £14.50 an hour on weekdays and £15.00 an hour at weekends, paid for every visit you work. After your first three months, if you keep the committed availability pattern described above, you move to £16.00 an hour for every hour. There are rate uplifts to £21.00 an hour on bank holidays and £28.00 an hour on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, plus 40p per mile between visits.
Do I need care experience to apply?
No. Experience is welcome but not required. We train you properly and you shadow experienced carers before your first visit on your own.
Do I need a car for this role?
Yes. You need a full UK driving licence and your own car, because visits are in clients’ own homes across the area. We pay 40p per mile between visits.
What hours can I work?
Full time and part time hours are available. Every other weekend is part of the role. Beyond that, tell us what works for you and your life. The full availability pattern of around 40 hours a week is only for the £16.00 rate after three months, not a condition of starting.
Where would I be working?
In clients’ homes in and around St Albans and the surrounding villages. Our office is in St Albans, so support is close by. You would need to live within easy reach of St Albans.
Can Starling Homecare sponsor a visa?
No. You need the right to work in the UK. We are not able to offer sponsorship or visa transfer.
How do I apply for the care assistant job in St Albans?
Use the quick apply form on this page or email [email protected]. Tell us the town you live in and the mornings, evenings and weekends you can offer. A person reads every application, and every applicant gets a reply.
How to apply
If you have read this far and thought, that is the kind of carer I am, we would like to meet you. Use the quick apply form below or email [email protected], and tell us two things: the town you live in, and the mornings, evenings and weekends you can offer. A person reads every application, and every applicant gets a reply.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references. Starling Homecare is an equal opportunities employer. We are not accepting agency applications or enquiries at this time.
