Coodes disability workshops

Disabled people in Cornwall looking to manage their own personal budgets can receive free, specialist legal advice from Coodes Solicitors in a series of workshops.

Anyone taking on a personal assistant through direct payments or personal budgets becomes an employer, which brings with it a number of legal considerations such as contracts, grievance and disciplinary procedures.

To support people who will be using personal budgets to manage their care packages, Coodes is working with charity Disability Cornwall & Isles of Scilly to put on three information events across the county.

The first is on Tuesday, October 4 at St Austell’s One Stop Shop. This is followed by events on Friday, October 7 at Disability Cornwall’s HQ the Warehouse, Hayle and on Monday, October 10 at the Echo Centre, Liskeard. Each workshop takes place between 1pm and 4pm.

Sharon Riley, services lead for personal budget support at Disability Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, said: “Personal budgets provide a brilliant opportunity for individuals to manage their own care packages and gain more control of their support.

“However, it does bring with it added responsibility in that the individual would become an employer, and therefore they must manage payroll, contracts and other legal paperwork.”

Anna Garde-Evans, employment specialist at Coodes who will be helping deliver the workshops, along with partner Peter Lamble and Phil Sayers, added: “Employment law is a wide area and subject to constant change.

“The workshops will cover some of the essential information you need as an employer, such as the requirement for employment contracts and the information they should include, as well as grievance and disciplinary procedures.”

For more information, please call Sharon on 01736 756655 or email.