Majority of home care workers paid less than minimum wage

Thousands of home care workers across England and Wales are paid less than the minimum wage because councils don’t insist home care firms pay staff for their travel time.

More than half (54 per cent) of England’s local authorities don’t state in their contracts that firms must pay employees for time spent travelling between visits, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted by the trade union Unison.

According to its report ‘Pressed for Time and Out of Pocket’, the situation is worse in Wales where 60 per cent of councils don’t stipulate that home care companies must pay for staff travel time.

A survey of home care workers by Unison last year, revealed 63 per cent are only paid for time spent in the homes of people they care for.

By only receiving payment for time spent in the home of a client, care workers’ hourly pay rates fall well short of the government’s national living wage, (£7.83 for those aged 25 and over).

“It is an absolute disgrace that hard-working home care workers are being penalised in this way”, said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.

“Poor rates of pay along with the pressure to keep time spent in each home to a minimum make life tough and play a huge part in the high turnover of staff.”

Extra 52p per hour covers just four minutes of travel time

A total of 174 councils across England and Wales with a responsibility for social care were contacted in September 2018 with 147 responding.

One council said it required home care providers to pay their employees an average of £8.35 per hour. Almost seven per cent above the national living wage (£7.83) but the extra 52p per hour allows for just over four minutes travel time for every hour of contact time. Any travel time above this goes unpaid.

Most home care workers spend more than four minutes an hour travelling between visits.

The UK Homecare Association (UKHCA), which represents home care providers, estimates staff spend 19 per cent of their working day travelling between the homes of the people they care for.

UKHCA policy director, Colin Angel, said: "It is essential that a viable regulated homecare sector is available to support the care of older and disabled people who choose to remain at home. The prices councils pay for care must cover the costs of the workforce, including - as a minimum - full-compliance with statutory minimum wage levels and the costs of running a regulated care service."

Guidance from the Care Act in England states: ‘When commissioning services, local authorities should assure themselves and have evidence that service providers deliver services through staff remunerated so as to retain an effective workforce.

‘Remuneration must be at least sufficient to comply with the national minimum wage legislation for hourly pay or equivalent salary. This will include appropriate remuneration for any time spent travelling between appointments.’

UNISON’s ethical care charter, which states home care workers must be paid for their travel time, has now been signed by 42 councils.

UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members. Mr Prentis added: “Both the Westminster and Cardiff governments should bring in a new legal duty for councils so they are clear that home care providers must pay employees for every hour they are at work.

“Any companies who fail to do this should be prevented from delivering care services in the future.”