Employment: FAQ

FAQ for Prospective Employees

Browse through the frequently asked questions for prospective employees using the links below or download all the questions through FAQ for Prospective Employees (pdf).

1. How much pay will I receive?
2. Are there benefits?
3. Do I get time off?
4. Do I receive a lunch break or other breaks?
5. Where do people whom I support live?
6. What skills do I need?
7. Will I receive traning?
8. What type of work will I be doing?
9. What are the work schedules? Are they flexible?
10. Do I need a college education?
11. Are there physical requirements?
12. May I bring my child along?
13. May I take the person I support to my home?
14. What do I do all day with the person?
15. Do I have backup or support?
16. Do I have to work holidays? Do I receive overtime pay?
17. For whom do I work?
18. Do I need to have a car?
19. Will I be wokring with just one person or with others?
20. How does CLO choose with whom I work?
21. Is this health care?
22. Am I considered a caregiver?
23. Am I considered a health care provider?
24. Am I considered a babysitter?
25. Am I working with the elderly?
26. Do I work in a facility?
27. Will I be working with the person's family or friends?
28. Is this assisted living?

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1. How much pay will I receive? [top]
A personal attendant’s beginning pay is generally $10.40 per hour for awake time, depending on experience. CLO offers opportunities for advancement with pay increases.


2. Are there benefits? [top]
CLO offers group health insurance benefits for full-time employees. Employees who work more than 32 hours a week are considered full-time.


3. Do I get time off? [top]
Full-time employees accrue 15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) each year. PTO is used for vacations, sick leave, and personal business. Employees may begin using PTO after three months successful employment, and must submit a written request for time off to their supervisors.


4. Do I receive a lunch break or other breaks? [top]
Personal attendants are employees governed by California Wage Order Number 15. They are defined as exempt employees. Due to the nature of their work, personal attendants are not entitled to the regular break and meal periods provided other employees under California law.


5. Where do people whom I support live?[top]
People whom CLO supports live in their own homes, which they control through ownership or lease.


6. What skills do I need? [top]
CLO seeks personal attendants who have creativity, flexibility, reliability, and a sense of humor. Sound judgment, basic math skills, and the ability to communicate in writing and orally are also required.


7. Will I receive training? [top]
Yes, CLO fully trains all people hired as personal attendants.


8. What type of work will I be doing? [top]
Personal attendants perform all of the tasks necessary to assist the people they support. The degree to which each consumer needs support with each activity varies. Among the activities with which personal attendants assist are shopping, preparing and eating meals, planning activities, transportation to and from community activities, maintaining personal hygiene, and participating in the activities consumers choose.


9. What are the work schedules? Are they flexible? [top]
The people CLO supports rely on personal attendants to have as consistent schedules as possible. When a personal attendant is not present in a regular fashion, this can cause stress and anxiety for the person being supported. When personal attendants need time off from their regular schedules, they can work with their supervisors to arrange for coverage by others.


10. Do I need a college education? [top]
A college education is not necessary to become a personal attendant.


11. Are there physical requirements? [top]
Personal attendants are occasionally required to sit, stand, walk, bend, squat, crawl, climb, run and kneel, reach above and below shoulder level and move/lift up to 150 pounds. Personal attendants occasionally must be able to use both right and left hands to grasp, push, pull and manipulate objects. Vision abilities include close vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Personal attendants are usually required to talk and hear.

Personal attendants must be able to handle frequent, moderate levels of stress. They must be physically and mentally fit to work with consumers who are potentially dangerous to themselves or others.


12. May I bring my child along? [top]
Personal attendants may not take children, other family members or friends to work.


13. May I take the person I support to my home? [top]
In most cases, no. However, on rare occasions exceptions are made with the prior approval of supervisors.


14. What do I do all day with this person? [top]
Part of a day’s activities consist of the necessities of living: assisting a person to shop, prepare, eat and clean up after meals; choosing clothes and dressing; maintaining personal hygiene, etc. The degree to which each consumer needs assistance with these activities varies greatly.

People CLO supports are active in their communities, and personal attendants spend time assisting them with transportation and participation in these activities. Personal attendants also provide companionship, assist consumers to engage in leisure activities of their choosing, and assist consumers in pursuing their personal goals.


15. Do I have backup or support? [top]
Community Support Facilitators (supervisors) are available on call around the clock to give advice and provide backup and support.


16. Do I have to work holidays? Do I receive overtime pay? [top]
Consumers need support on holidays as well as regular working days, so personal attendants are required to provide that support. Because personal attendants are governed by California Wage Order Number 15, they are exempt employees who are not eligible for overtime or make-up time.


17. For whom do I work? [top]
Creative Living Options is a personal attendant’s employer of record. However, according to CLO’s philosophy and values, consumers have the ultimate choice over whom CLO hires to support them and for how long their support staff members are employed.


18. Do I need to have a car? [top]
Yes, personal attendants must have a safe, working automobile, a valid California driver’s license, current auto insurance and a safe driving record.


19. Will I be working with just one person or with others? [top]
Usually a personal attendant will work primarily with one person. However, many personal attendants cross-train to provide backup and work occasionally with other people.


20. How does CLO choose with whom I work? [top]
During the interview process, CLO asks questions to determine an applicant’s likes, dislikes, habits, hobbies and personality. We make every attempt to match personal attendants’ personalities with the people they support. A personal attendant candidate will interview with the community support facilitator who works with a particular consumer. The final interviews for personal attendant candidates are with the consumers, and the consumers make the ultimate choice of who supports them.


21. Is this health care? [top]
Although some people CLO supports need assistance with taking medication, following dietary restrictions and personal hygiene, a personal attendant’s job is not considered health care. CLO – and personal attendants – provide much more holistic support than the term “health care” encompasses.


22. Am I considered a caregiver? [top]
No. CLO focuses on the abilities of the people we support, and they take as active a role as possible in all of the decisions activities that shape their lives. Personal attendants do not do anything to consumers; they participate in activities with consumers.


23. Am I considered a health care provider? [top]
Although personal attendants sometimes assist with making sure people they support take their medications on time and in the correct dosage, personal attendants are not considered health care workers. The people CLO supports receive health care services from health care providers and facilities in their communities. Although CLO certainly does not want to discourage people studying for health care careers from seeking work as personal attendants, their role involves much more than simply health care.


24. Am I considered a babysitter? [top]
CLO supports adults, not children, and affords them the respect adults deserve. The core of our mission is to assist adults with developmental disabilities to live their lives according to their personal choices. Personal attendants are by no means babysitters.


25. Am I working with the elderly? [top]
Some of the people CLO supports are approaching their later years. However, Supported Living Services are not targeted toward elderly people. CLO currently supports people ranging in age from young adults to people in their 50s and is committed to supporting people throughout their lives as they age.


26. Do I work in a facility? [top]
No. Supported Living Services exist so that people experiencing developmental disabilities can live in their own homes, not in congregate settings. Personal attendants work in consumers’ homes and in their communities.


27. Will I be working with the person’s family or friends? [top]
Since personal attendants support consumers in their communities, sometimes they will be involved in activities in which the person’s friends and family are also involved. However, a personal attendant employed by CLO is not considered to be employed by the consumer’s family.


28. Is this assisted living? [top]
Supported Living is not assisted living. People who use assisted living are in group settings, either group homes or larger institutions. People who use Supported Living Services live in their own homes.

 

 

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