My Sister needs help

[bg5067]

Hey everyone.

 

My sister needs help. First off she has learning difficulties and doesn't fully understand the situation she's in.

 

She works for a care company where she goes to peoples houses to help the elderly with there daily things. She's on £7ph, the problem I see with this is they will schedule her to work 30 mins at a house and they will only pay her half of her £7 which I can slightly understand but what annoys me is she has to pay for her own travel nothing discounted or anything.

 

She spent 5 days a week leaving the house at 8am getting home around 9pm and in 3 weeks only got paid £171. I do not think this is fair and was wondering if this is allowed.

[assisted blonde]

Does she spend 30mins at each house or does she just bill them for the time she actually spends there?

[bg5067]

She gets rotad in for 30 mins or 50mins by her employer

Edited July 29, 2013 by bg5067
Spelling (im rubbish at it)

[SweetLorraine]

Hi bg5067,

 

at this level of income your sister may qualify for income support benefits, perhaps that could be checked out at the local Job Centre.

 

Morally this is so wrong, it would be interesting to see what the company charges the end-user. But such thoughts don't help your sister. How about contacting Mencap Direct? - they should be able to give you some effective support.

 

http://www.mencap.org.uk/mencapdirect

[steampowered]

Yes, that does not sound right at all. I think the first thing might be to talk to the employer and explain the concerns. Hopefully they can see there is a problem here, I can't imagine see how they would keep their staff if that is their business model.

[bg5067]

thanks everyone.

 

I agree with your points. Problem I'm facing is my sister has learning problems and she doesn't really have it in her to do that, I'm worried if I get involved or my parents do then they might sack her.

[ssett]

thanks everyone.

 

I agree with your points. Problem I'm facing is my sister has learning problems and she doesn't really have it in her to do that, I'm worried if I get involved or my parents do then they might sack her.

She is 'earning' £1.04p an hour for the time relating to the job that she is out of the house. That is slavery and obscene exploitative behaviour by her employer.

[Feebee_71]

I'm in this line of work and it's usual for domicillary care workers not to be paid for travelling time. The company I work for also, at times, don't actually allow travelling time between clients homes meaning you either have to arrive early at one place or late at the next one.

 

One thing the company I work for does do that is better than what's happening to your sister is that we have rates of pay for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minute calls and anything over an hour is billed at the hourly rate. I often find that I half days where I'm out for the best part of 9-10 hours but only work 7 hours and earn about £45 before tax!!

 

Feebee_71

[Atlas01]

Lifted from the TUC website

 

Working out your working time

 

What counts as working time?

You need to be at your workplace and carrying out your working duties under the direction of your employer for it to count as working time.

It includes:

 

• training at the workplace provided by your employer
  
• time travelling to visit clients when this is a regular part of your job such as a travelling salesman or home help
  

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

That said i've heard this issue a few times now so my spidey sense detects a loophole somewhere and zero hours contract springs to mind, it's clear home to work is not classed as working time for 99.9% of folk but something is amiss

 

 

Also see the taxman, they may be able to claim mileage allowance

[Sidewinder]

This is absolutely the norm for homecare workers, sadly, and is the reason why my wife has recently changed jobs.

 

She was being asked to cover jobs on the other side of town that were a half hour in duration but no travelling time or mileage is payable. For an average shift of 5 hours a night she was earning around £15 and that is before taking the cost of petrol into account, since no allowance is paid for that. The only people getting rich from this type of work are the care companies themselves who may be paid around twice the hourly rate (and often more) paid to the worker. They are so desperate to hang onto contracts that tenders are made way below the level that would allow care workers to earn a decent wage.

 

It has long been recognised that not paying for travel time breaks the law in relation to minimum wage and working time, but the only way that this is going to change is for somebody (or for a group collectively) to start taking employers to court over it. Even the government agrees that there should be a change, but as always, the cost implication is sufficient for Ministers to kick the ball into the long grass. With so much of the work made up by Social Services contracts, this would involve a massive additional cost to Government at a time where budgets are being slashed or at best ringfenced at current levels.

 

It doesn't help your sister, but she is not alone.

 

Interesting article here http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/20/03/2013/119021/non-payment-of-travel-time-for-care-workers-breaks-minimum-wage-laws.htm

[bg5067]

Thanks guys.

 

To be honest she could get more on JSA but she would have to be sacked to get it if i remember correctly. This is partly my sisters fault she use to work in a care home in Banstead earning £800-900pm but was so unhappy she just left and worked there, she doesn't tell us anything she does and when we question her she gives basic answers.

[Feebee_71]

She ought to put in a claim for tax credits - she has to ring and request a form and then fill it in and return. They can backdate by a month but no more. The form isn't too difficult to fill in either. If her income is only £171 or thereabouts a week she'd possibly get help with rent too if she's renting somewhere.

 

Feebee_71

[bg5067]

She ought to put in a claim for tax credits - she has to ring and request a form and then fill it in and return. They can backdate by a month but no more. The form isn't too difficult to fill in either. If her income is only £171 or thereabouts a week she'd possibly get help with rent too if she's renting somewhere.

 

Feebee_71

 

More like 2-3 weeks pay

 

but thanks i will get her to do that