Employers responsibilities

Employers have a responsibility to ensure that their social care and social work staff are registered with the Social Care Council.

All social care and social work employing organisations need to maintain a list of authorised endorsers who will have access to the Employer Portal via their Social Care Council online account. To nominate an endorser or remove an existing endorser from the list please contact employerqueries@niscc.hscni.net.

From the Employer Portal endorsers can view information about open applications, monitor the registration status of their staff by having access to dates of fees or renewals due and a number of other features.

Information for Social Care Employers

– Promote the Social Care Council Standards of Conduct and Practice to employees.

– Ensure that registration with the Social Care Council is part of induction for any new staff and also confirm the name of the person who will endorse their application.

– Complete online endorsements regularly by accessing their online employee portal account.

– Frequently access their online employer portal account to monitor staffs registration status and progress with their new application.

– Advise staff to use their online portal account and update personal information, contact details and employment record as necessary – this will ensure registrants receive correspondence from the Social Care Council and that their details are included in employee information visible on the employer portal.

– Provide learning and development opportunities to enable employees to strengthen their skills, knowledge and practice connected to their role and to support employees to meet their PRTL (Post Registration Training and Learning) requirements.

– Inform the Social Care Council of any information requiring a Fitness to Practise referral. The Fitness to Practise team can be contacted at ftp@niscc.hscni.net.

– Social workers can apply for registration without having a current social work employment but MUST be registered prior to taking up any social work post.

– Social care workers who are new to social care, and never previously worked in a social care role, MUST apply to register as soon as they take up their post (when an offer of employment has been made by the employer and accepted by the employee), and they must successfully achieve registration within six months.

Registration is compulsory for all Social Care managers and Social Care Workers in the following settings:

Managers and all social care staff in residential facilities for adults and children.
Managers and all social care staff in day care centres.
Managers of domiciliary care services and all social care staff in supported living and domiciliary care provision.
Social Care Workers must have secured a position in one of the above settings in order to be able to apply for registration.