Are home carers being abused by the system?

[mancmart]

As the title asks, are care workers being abused/exploited, and is there anything they can do about it?

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but it seems in this day and age that such a huge industry is exploiting so many workers under our noses, and nothing seems to be done.

I know of private care companies in Sheffield, where the workers are paid less than minimum wage.

For example, if you sign/log on duty, you should be paid for your time on duty until your shift finishes, but there are companies who pay 'time in call', so that you are effectively doing a 20 minute call, 20 minute travel to your next call, then 20 minutes in that call; total, 60 minutes.

but these companies are not paying travel or petrol money, so the worker gets 40 minutes pay!

 

Often they use their own car with no subsidies, and if they don't drive, are expected to make their own way between calls, which could take considerably longer than the drive time.

On top of that, the drivers are expected to 'ferry' other, non drivers from call to call without any recompence.

 

To me, the biggy is the breech of the working time directive, which legally entitles the carer to a minimum 11 hours from late to early shift yet they are rotered shifts which finish at 2200 hrs then re-start at 0600 hrs.

These girls (and guys) are exhausted, yet when it is mentioned to the employer, nothing gets done.

 

I have made a point of contacting a union branch in both Sheffield and Rotherham, in the hope that they would at least address the ILLEGAL practice of double back shifts, only to be told that the member should submit a grievance.(surely this is also a H&S issue?)

Try doing this when your workmates are too afraid to back you, for fear of losing their poorly paid jobs, with bills to pay.

Any one got any ideas, maybe going to the press, also why are the union concerned doing nothing?

Edited March 20, 2015 by mancmart
spelling

[phantom309]

This was on the BBC news a couple of weeks ago and I think it said only 6% of the Care Companies paid their staff for the time spent traveling between calls so most are taking advantage of the system and only paying their staff a fraction of what they should be paid ,

I would assume that most of these staff are not union members and are unable to do much about as individuals and it is probably the councils way of cost cutting by putting the service out to tender to the private sector and not inserting a clause about minimum wage and working conditions.

[Mister M]

It is nothing short of a scandal how some health and social care staff are treated.

Their work is dealing with people who are dying, in pain, have mental health or learning difficulties, and doing so with knowledge and empathy. Not only do they have to cope with the stress that the job brings, but many of them are being shat on by their employers.

I know my partner is a care worker & his employer is bullying 2 care workers, and has recently got rid of a member of staff who he found out had joined a trade union.

People who do this kind of work, and do it well are heroes and heroines in my opinion, and I'm sick and tired of Governments sitting back and allowing them to be treated badly.

[Staunton]

The process is called clipping - staff are 'free' to cut their visits short if they wish, because the care companies do not care about the elderly people they are tasked to support. Indeed many companies rely upon staff clipping their visits - arriving late, leaving early - in order to meet targets. Even the Daily Mail has reported the cynical state of affairs recently, on their front page no less, commenting that staff are being instructed not to speak to their clients in order to avoid unnecessary delays.

 

When you recall that those 'clients' are often frail, isolated and lonely, and that their carers are often their only contact with the outside world, this really is a scandalous situation.

 

Here are two points - most of us will get old; and Mitie and other big players are making millions from their contracts with local authorities - public money into private pockets, with exploitation of staff becoming routine across the sector!

[tinfoilhat]

It is nothing short of a scandal how some health and social care staff are treated.

Their work is dealing with people who are dying, in pain, have mental health or learning difficulties, and doing so with knowledge and empathy. Not only do they have to cope with the stress that the job brings, but many of them are being shat on by their employers.

I know my partner is a care worker & his employer is bullying 2 care workers, and has recently got rid of a member of staff who he found out had joined a trade union.

People who do this kind of work, and do it well are heroes and heroines in my opinion, and I'm sick and tired of Governments sitting back and allowing them to be treated badly.

 

You can't sack someone for being part of a union surely. I'd take them to court.

[Mister M]

You can't sack someone for being part of a union surely. I'd take them to court.

 

No it's illegal, but the employer is probably relying on people being apathetic and resigned.

[Daven]

A close relative of mine worked for a home care company and she wasn't given time to travel between clients - for example, she would be given times she had to be at a clients house in Gleadless and then her next call would be in Hillsborough so the only way she could keep up with her schedule was to leave one call a little earlier than she should to get to her next - 'clipping' I believe it is called. In effect, the care company is stealing time from one client for the carer to get to the next on time.

She wasn't given break time so had to eat and drink whilst driving to the next house which was essential when working a 12 or 14 hour shift.

[misslonglegs]

I'm a carer myself,who is in a union,along with many others who work alongside me.we have MANY issues,which our union DO know about,but seem reluctant to tackle directly on our behalf,telling us that we should approach management ourselves.

Although this may be correct procedure,we fear for our jobs and hoped that our union would've been more proactive,especially when laws are being BLATANTLY broken.i could write a long list of them all,but to be honest,i'd get more depressed.suffice to say,i log in at 7 am,log out at approx 22.30 pm,thats 15 1/2 hrs for 8-10 hrs pay,at minimum wage,no mileage allowance and also provide a free taxi service to the walkers!

[Anna B]

You can't sack someone for being part of a union surely. I'd take them to court.

 

Probably not, but there's more than one way to 'discourage' workers from joining a union. Blacklisting, for example. That's also illegal, but hard to prove and it certainly goes on.

 

---------- Post added 21-03-2015 at 23:09 ----------

 

As the title asks, are care workers being abused/exploited, and is there anything they can do about it?

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but it seems in this day and age that such a huge industry is exploiting so many workers under our noses, and nothing seems to be done.

I know of private care companies in Sheffield, where the workers are paid less than minimum wage.

For example, if you sign/log on duty, you should be paid for your time on duty until your shift finishes, but there are companies who pay 'time in call', so that you are effectively doing a 20 minute call, 20 minute travel to your next call, then 20 minutes in that call; total, 60 minutes.

but these companies are not paying travel or petrol money, so the worker gets 40 minutes pay!

 

Often they use their own car with no subsidies, and if they don't drive, are expected to make their own way between calls, which could take considerably longer than the drive time.

On top of that, the drivers are expected to 'ferry' other, non drivers from call to call without any recompence.

 

To me, the biggy is the breech of the working time directive, which legally entitles the carer to a minimum 11 hours from late to early shift yet they are rotered shifts which finish at 2200 hrs then re-start at 0600 hrs.

These girls (and guys) are exhausted, yet when it is mentioned to the employer, nothing gets done.

 

I have made a point of contacting a union branch in both Sheffield and Rotherham, in the hope that they would at least address the ILLEGAL practice of double back shifts, only to be told that the member should submit a grievance.(surely this is also a H&S issue?)

Try doing this when your workmates are too afraid to back you, for fear of losing their poorly paid jobs, with bills to pay.

Any one got any ideas, maybe going to the press, also why are the union concerned doing nothing?

 

You have my sympathy, The government knows it goes on but are turning a blind eye to it so don't expect any help from them. (Just remember on voting day...)

 

I'd go back to the union, they also know this goes on and must know that people fear for their jobs, so persist with them until somebody takes notice, and thinks of a way to get round the reluctance. I'm also amazed that they are unwilling to help their members.

 

The paper's not a bad idea either, as long as you're prepared to take the flack as a 'whistleblower.' They could even do an undercover investigation.

 

Is there an independent body that checks on care quality? (and working conditions?) What about the people you care for? They must be getting short changed as well. If I'd paid for 30 minutes care, I'd expect to get 30 minutes care. Can you enlist their support?

 

Once again it's scandalous, I'd be as mad as hell. It shouldn't go on.

 

Good luck.

[mike84]

While there are big issues with actual care companies, some of the fault has to be with local councils who buy these services. They set the prices and terms of the cobtract with the care company.

 

When councils are paying less than £11.50 per hour to care companies and also only pay for contact time with clients (sometimes to the minute) it makes it virtually impossible for them to pay travel expenses, travel time and a reasonable hourly rate to staff.

 

The care industry has some big issues to face up to in the coming years. But local councils also need to look at what they pay for services to be provided on their behalf.