Signing a CSIL employer agreement in British Columbia makes you the employer of your own home support workers. Your health authority funds you on the understanding that you will hire and schedule assistants, spend the money only on approved costs, report every month, and meet the legal obligations that come with having staff.
This is the first post in our CSIL Employer Series. It covers what you commit to in the agreement, what arrives in the Employer Package, and how the arrangement differs depending on whether the individual who needs support hires and manages staff personally or whether they have someone do it for them.
Before you read on, it’s important that you understand this is general information, not legal advice. Your signed agreement and Employer Package govern if they differ, and your case manager can tell you what applies before you spend or hire.
The three commitments
Many individuals who access CSIL funding and supports live with spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord Injury BC (SCI-BC), a registered charity, has prepared one of the foremost guides to applying for and managing CSIL in the province. Even those without spinal cord injuries will find their workbook helpful. It boils the agreement down to three commitments:
- you must use CSIL funding only in specific ways,
- you must report to the health authority every month, and
- you must be a lawful employer.
The last one means following the Employment Standards Act, making sure your assistants are covered by WorkSafeBC, and handling payroll deductions and CRA remittances correctly.
As SCI-BC correctly observes, when employers get into difficulty, it usually traces back to not understanding or not meeting one of these basics. In our experience, it is rarely the spending. It is the reporting, because the monthly paperwork is the part new employers have planned for least.
What the first month looks like
The Employer Package arrives. A family member is ready to start shifts. The CSIL bank account is not open yet, and the case manager is already asking when the first report will be in. The new employer is trying to keep care going and sort out paperwork at the same time.
Remember, the health authority cannot see your intentions. It sees your records: who worked, who was paid from the CSIL account, and whether every dollar went to an allowable cost. If the file cannot tell that story on its own, you will be answering questions later. Setting it up properly in month one is far easier than reconstructing it in month four.
Phase I and Phase II describe who the employer is
The “Phase I” and “Phase II” labels suggest a sequence, but there isn’t one. Phase I and Phase II are two separate arrangements, and which one applies in you case depends on who the employer is.
Under Phase I, the individual in need of support is the CSIL employer. By contrast, Phase II is for people who are not able, or not fully able, to manage their own home support. In that case, the employer is either a Client Support Group or a representative appointed under a Representation Agreement. The duties are the same in both cases. They just sit with a different employer.
| Phase I | Phase II | |
| Who is the employer | You, the person receiving home support | A Client Support Group (CSG) or a representative under a Representation Agreement |
| Suits | People who can manage their own home support | People who are not able, or not fully able, to manage it |
| Board or directors | None | CSG: at least three directors, aged 19 or older, under the BC Societies Act |
| Extra set-up documents | None | Four society documents when a CSG is involved |
| Paid administrative roles | Not applicable | None. Directors and representatives cannot be paid for CSIL tasks or hired as assistants |
A Client Support Group needs at least three family members or friends as directors, and you can be a fourth. It must be incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Societies Act before it can act as employer. Directors must be 19 or older, at least one should live in your community, and together they need enough administrative and bookkeeping skill to run the account. The society exists for only one purpose, which is to manage your CSIL services and funds. SCI-BC suggests asking members to commit for one or two years.
The incorporation fee (about $150) and the cost of setting up a Representation Agreement are allowable CSIL expenses. Keep the receipts and submit them with your first Monthly Financial Statement. If you are considering a representative, the workbook suggests starting with your case manager, Nidus, or the Public Guardian and Trustee of BC.
The Employer Package
Once you are accepted, the CSIL Coordinator at your health authority sends the Employer Package. Contents vary a little between health authorities, but the core is the same.
- Phase I: two copies of the agreement, direct deposit forms, a sample Monthly Financial Statement with blank forms, and a budget.
- Phase II: the agreement, direct deposit forms and financial statement forms, plus four society documents where a CSG is involved: the Notice of Address, List of First Directors, Bylaws Modification Form and Constitution.
Return the completed forms and the initial set-up is finished. After that, questions about your care needs and current policy go to your case manager. Questions about the agreement paperwork and funding go to the CSIL Coordinator.
What a CSIL employer agreement in BC covers
The agreement is your contract with the health authority. It is generally not negotiable, so read it before you sign and ask your case manager about anything unclear. Most agreements include:
- Term: usually one to five years.
- Monthly funding: your approved home support hours multiplied by the current CSIL hourly rate.
- Rules on managing funds, reporting, record keeping and spending.
- Your responsibilities as an employer, and the conditions for hiring family members.
- Surplus: generally no more than one month of CSIL funding.
- Liability: you accept the risk of personal injury arising from your services, and your assistants must be covered by WorkSafeBC.
- Notice: you must tell the health authority if you will not need services for 14 days or longer.
- Termination and appeals: how and why the agreement can end, and how to appeal decisions about your services.
Becoming a CSIL employer is like starting and maintaining your own home-based business. Nobody absorbs all of it in the first week, but employers who put the supports and processes in place early tend to have much smoother months afterward.
Hiring a CSIL bookkeeper
You do the hiring, scheduling and supervising, and you keep the records. If you employ assistants directly, the Employment Standards Act, WorkSafeBC and CRA payroll rules apply to you. What you can hand off is the number work.
CSIL expense guidelines allow bookkeeper or payroll service costs up to $300 a month including GST. That can cover full service (employee deductions, CRA remittances and WorkSafeBC) or only the pieces you choose to outsource. The guidelines also allow accounting software and bookkeeping for year-end tax preparation. Confirm the current limit with your case manager, since these guidelines are revised from time to time.
A CSIL bookkeeper needs more than payroll skills. They need to know the Monthly Financial Statement and which expenses your health authority accepts. Even then, you, your CSG or your representative remain the employer. The legal role in the agreement cannot be passed to someone the agreement does not name.
Common questions
Do I have to do every task myself?
No. A qualified bookkeeper can handle payroll and reporting, and many employers use one. The responsibility stays with you.
What if the first month is messy?
Tell your case manager as soon as you know, finish the Employer Package, and keep every receipt. A late report with an explanation goes much better than silence.
Can a family member work for me?
Most relatives can be hired without special permission. Hiring an immediate family member (a parent, child or spouse) requires an exception from the health authority. You must look for experienced assistants first, and the exception depends on four criteria: the service would otherwise be provided by the health authority, no appropriate caregiver is available, the risks to the family are manageable, and the plan includes respite for the family member. Your representative and CSG directors can never be hired as assistants.
When MWCPA onboards a new CSIL employer, we begin with the signed agreement and the Employer Package, so the three commitments are clear before the first deposit arrives. Our CSIL bookkeeping service page shows how the agreement, the CSIL bank account and the Monthly Financial Statement fit together. We also offer a complimentary conversation to review what you already have and what still needs to be in the file.
