How to Get Approval for Personal Services
Summary
– Human services: activities subject to approval
– Conditions for the issuance of a license for a human service
– Applying for approval to provide a human service
– Renewing a human service license
– Withdrawal of a human service license
Human services are a set of services that are aimed at individuals.
Human services is a rapidly expanding sector that is governed by strict regulations. It is offered by human services organizations or by individual entrepreneurs. Thus, depending on the type of activity, approval for personal services is mandatory.
Human services: activities subject to approval
The human services sector includes several services, including family services (childcare, home lessons, etc.), domestic services (housework, gardening, minor repairs, meal preparation, etc.), and services for the elderly or disabled (support, care, etc.). The human services activity must be carried out in the client’s or beneficiary’s home or be part of a global service offer.
Obtaining the relevant health and service approval for any human services activity aimed at any “fragile” public is mandatory. The Labor Code strictly defines the human services activities that must be approved.
Thus, the approval is mandatory for caring for children under 3 years old at home and accompanying children under 3 years old in their travels.
It is also necessary to obtain an agreement for services to the elderly (over 60 years old), disabled, or suffering from chronic pathologies:
– assistance in the daily acts of life;
– driving a personal vehicle;
– Accompaniment during trips outside the home.
Please note: the term “agent” refers to the human services organization mandated by an individual to recruit a person who then becomes an employee of the individual employer. The agent is different from the service provider, a human services organization with employees working for an individual who is not their employer.
Conditions for obtaining approval for a personal service
To obtain approval, the applicant organization or contractor must ensure that it meets various conditions strictly set out by the Labor Code.
Thus, the legal entity or individual entrepreneur must have the human, material, and financial resources to satisfy the purpose for which the approval is sought. If there are several establishments, the organization or contractor must also have a quality charter to which the establishments adhere.
A set of requirements for operation, organization, continuity of services, delivery, and evaluation must be followed.
In addition, the organization or contractor must not have been convicted of a criminal offense or been subject to a civil, commercial, or administrative sanction that would prohibit it from managing, administering, or directing a legal entity or carrying out commercial activity.
He/she must not be registered in the national judicial file of sexual offenders when the activity of personal services is related to minors.
Obtaining the approval is conditional on compliance with all these conditions. It is valid for 5 years and personal, meaning it is only granted to the applicant organization or entrepreneur.
Applying for approval to provide a personal service
The application for approval must be made to the concerned department’s prefect. It must be accompanied by supporting documents concerning the organization or contractor and the quality of the services (nature and location of the services, conditions of employment of the personnel, welcome booklet, information of the clients in tax matters, etc.). After receiving the file, the absence of a response after 3 months is considered acceptance.
The application for approval can be made via the national database of human services organizations. It is delivered for 5 years, is renewable, and gives a right to the tax advantages envisaged by the law.
Renewing an agreement for personal services
The procedure for renewing an approval and modifying an endorsement is identical to the initial application. Thus, any request for renewal must be sent to the prefect of the department where the organization or contractor is established at least 3 months before the expiry date of the approval.
Withdrawal of an agreement for personal services
A withdrawal procedure may be initiated if the organization or contractor does not comply with the mandatory conditions for obtaining approval. Approval is withdrawn if the organization or contractor no longer meets the required conditions, does not comply with the legal provisions relating to health and safety at work, or carries out activities not declared in the application for approval.
A withdrawal of approval can also occur if the organization or contractor does not send the qualitative and quantitative report of the activity carried out for the past year. The prefect then sends a formal notice to the organization or contractor, with 15 days to submit its observations.
Please note: when the approval is withdrawn, the organization or contractor must immediately inform all of its clients by individual letter.
