How do I train as a personal assistant?
You receive all your training from your work leader. Together, you go through the assistants’ manual, which, among other things, provides an introduction to your rights and duties as an Uloba employee.
Does Uloba – Independent Living Norge SA organise courses for assistants?
Yes, we have a compulsory e-learning course for assistants. The course comprises three modules:
- The role of assistant
- Duty of confidentiality
- Health, safety and the environment (HSE)
How will I be paid?
You fill in and sign a timesheet every month. Your work leader also signs the timesheet before it is sent to Uloba’s head office. Uloba must receive your timesheet by the 3rd of each month. Your pay will be paid into your account on the 15th of each month.
Does Uloba have part-time and full-time positions?
Yes. Some of Uloba’s work leaders have personal assistance three hours a week. Others receive assistance 24 hours a day. In addition, there are always work leaders in Uloba who are looking for stand-ins who can work when their permanent assistants are ill or on holiday.
How can I get a job as a personal assistant?
Uloba’s work leaders interview and select their personal assistants. If you would like a job, there are several ways of contacting work leaders who are looking for assistants:
- Uloba’s job pages
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- The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration’s (NAV) website
Can I get a job as an assistant by contacting Uloba’s head office?
No. However, you can look in the job adverts or post your own job advert on Uloba’s job pages.
Which assistant duties can I refuse to do?
Before you get a job as an assistant in Uloba, you and your work leader will write a job description that specifies what the job involves. This states that the object of the job is for the assistant to ‘provide service and assistance that enables the work leader to live as he/she wants’. Here, you can state any work that you do not want to do. For example, lift heavy loads, climb up high or assist in toilet situations. If you are employed with such reservations, you cannot be ordered to lift heavy loads and climb up high etc.
Can a personal assistant perform tasks that are usually done by a nurse or physiotherapist?
Yes. Many work leaders in Uloba teach their personal assistants to carry out such work precisely because they wish to live flexible lives. Examples include: stretching and bending exercises, assisted ventilation equipment, tube feeding, inserting a catheter or administering enemas and changing bandages etc. All work leaders in Uloba – Independent Living Norge SA have a need for practical assistance in their day-to-day lives.
What do I do if I disagree with my work leader?
All personnel managers in working life have a managerial prerogative, within the boundaries of the contract. However, as an employee, it is your responsibility to notify your work leader if you disagree with something or if there is an aspect of the work you do not understand. Uloba is just like any other area of working life. Tell your work leader. You can then discuss the matter with him/her. After such discussion has taken place, you can, if necessary, contact one of Uloba’s HR officers or an assistants’ employee representative.
Can I work for more than one work leader in Uloba?
Yes. However, you must always notify the person(s) you are already working for that you are going to take up employment with another work leader. It is useful for work leaders to know that you may be less flexible with respect to when you can work in future.
My work leader can dress him/herself, can I still be asked to help him/her dress?
Yes, because it is your work leader who defines the work tasks. Your work leader may find that it saves times if you assist him/her with dressing. The work leader may want to spend time doing other things than getting dressed.
My work leader has a spouse who makes a mess in the house. Must I, as personal assistant, tidy up after the spouse?
Yes, because it is not unusual for spouses to tidy up after each other. When you, as an assistant, tidy up after your work leader’s spouse, it is, in principle, your work leader who is tidying up after his or her spouse, while, as an assistant, you are the tool the work leader uses to tidy up after the messy spouse.
How should I behave when my work leader has guests?
Ask your work leader about this. Some work leaders want their assistants to be reserved and not actively participate in conversations with friends and guests, while other work leaders have different ideas. It is important to have clear agreements on such matters.
Who do I ask when there are things I wonder about in connection with the job?
Ask your work leader and/or check the assistants’ manual if you are uncertain. The assistants’ folder is a comprehensive manual and reference document that you will find at your work leader’s home. You can also contact your work leader’s PA advisor. Contact Uloba’s head office if you are still in doubt.
I am one of four assistants working for my work leader, do we have a duty of confidentiality in relation to each other?
Yes, definitely! All personal assistants employed by Uloba sign a duty of confidentiality when they are employed. The duty of confidentiality also applies after the assistant has left the position.
When my work leader travels abroad in connection with work or a holiday, can I go too and work as assistant there?
Yes! This is something you and your work leader agree on.
I like to be flexible in relation to work. Can I decide when I work?
Most of Uloba’s work leaders need assistance at set times. Punctuality and reliability are therefore very important aspects of working as an assistant. Your work leader will always draw up a work schedule stating when you are to work. You can often influence this schedule, and it may be possible to change your schedule. Many personal assistants in Uloba have very flexible working hours agreements with their work leaders.
What education do you need to work as an assistant?
There are no formal educational requirements. The most important qualifications are manners, honesty, and being punctual and service-minded. Uloba’s work leaders decide which professional and educational background they deem most relevant in assistants.
A work leader with a large garden may want a gardener. A work leader who is a foodie may appreciate a cook applying for the job. A work leader who loves cars may want an assistant who is good at fixing cars. A Francophile may want to employ an assistant with a French background. A work leader who is interested in art might be interested in employing an art student. A house-proud work leader might consider employing a housewife, etc. etc.