Last Updated on March 23, 2016

A new report from UNISON on payment of the national minimum wage in homecare is warning that, ‘Tens of thousands of care workers across England and Wales are still being paid less than the minimum wage because councils are not insisting that homecare companies pay staff their travel time’.

Using a recent Freedom of Information request, UNISON found that more than three quarters of councils (76%) in England don’t stipulate in their contracts with homecare providers that firms must pay employees when they are travelling between appointments. The report, Calling Time on Illegal Wages in the Homecare Sector, says that the situation is even worse in Wales where fewer than one in ten councils (9%) explicitly instruct employers to remunerate staff for the time they spend on the road.

According to UNISON, councils are breaching statutory guidance that came into force alongside the Care Act last year. Guidance states that homecare staff must be paid for the time taken to get to appointments. The findings represent an improvement on a year ago when UNISON last carried out an investigation. At that time, fewer than one in ten councils (7%) made payment of travel time a contractual obligation for homecare providers.

UNISON’s report is published ahead of a debate in Parliament later today. UNISON is backing a call for ministers to make employers prove to their workers that they pay the national minimum wage.

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said, ‘It’s a scandal that more than 200,000 care workers are receiving illegal wages of less than £6.70. More councils might now be insisting that homecare contracts ensure payment for travel time, but there’s still too many that don’t.

‘This shows just how little local authorities value care staff who do such a vital job looking after the elderly and disabled. Councils shouldn’t be awarding contracts to firms without ensuring they’re prepared to pay travel time. And the Government should be putting more resources into a social care system that is already at crisis point.’