It used to take Judith three and a half hours to earn two hours pay, that’s because Judith is a home care worker, and her employer had decided not to pay her for the time spent traveling between visits to elderly and disabled people. Judith is one of the estimated tens of thousands of home care workers not being paid for their travel time. Home care workers spend their entire day making visits to people who need care. So they are constantly on the move. And the government guidance is clear on this – you should’ve paid for this. Unless you are genuinely self employed. But most employers ignore this guidance- and pay nothing for travel time, as a result the person doesn’t even reach the national minimum pay . Unison believes this is a scandal and is urging the government to end the underpayment. Confusing wage slips mean workers struggle to see how much they are getting paid. Unison also want to see HMRC publish the report – commissioned by the government over a year ago- into 6 major care companies and potential breaches of minimum wage laws. Judith went to see her local rep and they thought she had a legal claim and they helped her with the paperwork. Judith received £3,250 . Judith’s case shows just how companies can profit by denying staff payment for their travel time. The government should be doing more to ensure these firms meet their legal obligations across the board. If you could be in a similar position to Judith contact your rep or call 01229 491250 and you will be put in touch with a rep.
Posted on Thursday, April 6th, 2017 at 2:01 pm in Latest News.
