Care Workers | What are your rights? - Oakwood Solicitors Ltd

Industry background of care work

Care workers play a vital role in society in looking after elderly and vulnerable people to give them the best quality of life either at home or in a residential setting.

But, despite the important role these workers play in society, they often find themselves struggling with long, unsociable hours, zero-hour contracts and low pay.

According to figures, a care worker’s average pay is £10.18 per hour. But entry-level care home workers earn an average salary of £15,000 to £16,000 per year – which can work out at less than £55 a day after tax.

Meanwhile, in care work, there can also be issues around impossible rotas, sleep-ins and lack of pay for travel time between patients.

Care home staff report findings

A report carried out by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest, Warwick Business School and University College London surveyed 605 care home staff across the UK to get an insight into what it is really like working in these environments.

Concerningly, one worker said they worked for ‘two solid weeks’ with just a nurse on a dementia [unit] where all 24 residents had COVID during the pandemic. Another said that vacancy rates and staff turnover are ‘much higher’ than it’s ever been.

According to the research, staff shortages meant workers had to undertake tasks beyond their remit, and sometimes were unqualified for. Issues have also been raised around workers, who have been dismissed, returning to the same company as an agency worker, as care home settings struggle to recruit their own staff.

But, care workers have rights, and should be aware of what they are entitled to at work. If a worker finds that they are not receiving what they are entitled to, they may be able to make a claim against their employer.

Employment law - What are your rights?

Contract

Employees are legally entitled to a contract – a written statement of the main terms and conditions of employment – within two calendar months of starting work.

Your contract should include details of things like pay, holidays and working hours.

Breaks at work

Workers over 18 are entitled to 3 types of break – rest breaks at work, daily rest and weekly rest.

Rest breaks at work

You have the right to a 20 minute rest break during your working day, if you work more than 6 hours a day.

This could be a tea or lunch break. The break doesn’t have to be paid – it depends on your employment contract.

Daily rest

You have the right to 11 hours rest between working days, eg: if you finish work at 8pm, you shouldn’t be asked to start work again until 7am the next day.

Weekly rest

Workers have the right to either:

– An uninterrupted 24 hours without any work each week

– An uninterrupted 48 hours without any work each fortnight

Travel time

Care workers who need to travel to the home of their patients’ should be paid for the travel time.

According to Unison, this means that time spent caring for clients, travelling to appointments and waiting to start the appointment should be included in the pay calculation.

At the very least the work done must average out as at least the national minimum wage or national living wage.

Pay

If you are a worker aged 23 and over, you are legally entitled to at least the National Living Wage.

It is illegal for your employer to pay you below the National Living Wage, so check your pay and make sure it is correct.

23 and over: £10.42
21 to 22: £10.18
18 to 20: £7.49
Under 18: £5.28
Apprentice: £5.28

From April 2024, minimum wages are increasing to the following:

21 and over: £11.44
18 to 20: £8.60
Under 18: £6.40
Apprentice: £6.40

What do I do if my employer is not exercising my rights?

Raise a grievance

If you believe your employer is not exercising your rights correctly, whether that is not paying you accordingly, or not giving you the required breaks that you’re entitled to, you should try having an informal conversation at first to discuss this.

But if you feel you are not getting anywhere with your query, you can take steps further by raising a formal grievance.

Although it is always best to try and resolve matters with your employer informally, if your work-related issue cannot be resolved informally or it is perhaps too serious for it to be resolved informally, it may be appropriate to raise a formal grievance.

A grievance can be made at any time during your employment. If you make a claim before an Employment Tribunal regarding the work-related issue that you are unhappy about without having first raised a grievance, then the Employment Tribunal may in some circumstances reduce the amount of compensation that you would have otherwise been awarded.

For more information about raising a grievance at work, the process and when to take things further, click here.

Other Employment laws (not an exhaustive list):

Whistleblowing

Laws are in place to protect whistleblowers at work. A whistleblower is someone who reports types of wrongdoing (that are in the public interest) to their employer or relevant organisation.

If you reasonably believe that one or more of the following matters is happening, taking place or likely to happen you should report the wrongdoing or suspected wrongdoing to the relevant organisation or individual.

A criminal offence
The breach of a legal obligation
A miscarriage of justice
A danger to the health and safety of any individual
Damage to the environment
Deliberate attempt to conceal any of the above.

Whistleblowers – what rights do you have?

Whistleblowing, also known as ‘making a protected disclosure’, is potentially a ‘protected act’ under employment law.

This means that employees who are aware of unlawful activity in the workplace, and report it, should not be subjected to any detriment as a result, or dismissed due to making this disclosure.

For employees making a disclosure against their employer, it can, understandably, be a stressful process. In some cases, it can even result in the employee suffering a psychiatric injury.

There is often an overlap between a whistleblowing claim in the Employment Tribunal, and a civil claim for Stress at Work.

You are not required to have a specific length of service with your employer to be protected as a whistleblower (unlike a claim for unfair dismissal for example that requires the employee to have the qualifying length of service, which is currently 2 years).

Once you have whistle blown, you could experience bullying or other detrimental repercussions very quickly.

If you have noticed any difference in the way you are treated at work or you have suffered detriment since whistleblowing please contact Oakwood Solicitors as soon as possible to see how we can help.

More information about whistleblowing can be found here in our resource.

Discrimination

There are also laws in place to protect employees from workplace discrimination.

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of the following protected characteristics:

Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnerships
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation

If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of a protected characteristic, get in touch with Oakwood Solicitors today.

Why choose Oakwood Solicitors Ltd?

We have taken many cases over the years and are committed to getting justice for whistleblowers, who very often feel that they have no one to turn to.

Such cases shine an important light on the sector, which in return benefits the local community and helps to protect the vulnerable.

You will have a dedicated advisor who will see your claim through from start to finish, assisting you in the event of any queries or issues you may have. If it is preferable to you, we are able to assign a female advisor to carry out your claim.

Your case handler will also continue to provide regular updates until the conclusion of your claim, ensuring the process is as stress-free and effortless as possible.

Great, responsive service

Great responsive service. Having approached a number of local solicitors, they were the only ones to not only respond but also provide a solution in the timeline required.

- Satisfied client

Very prompt, efficient and polite.

It was nice to be able to speak to a real human, rather than corresponding via email which seems to be the case in so many other organisations. Well done for keeping the personal touch.

- Satisfied client

Fiona Almazedi- Solicitor and Head of Employment

Fiona Almazedi has been with Oakwood Solicitors for the last 10 years working as a consultant and taking up the position of Head of Employment on the 3rd January 2024. Fiona has over 20 years of experience in Employment Law both contentious and non-contentious matters. Qualifying as a solicitor in 2006, Fiona has for many years successfully represented Claimants nationally and locally and covers all areas of Employment Law, including complex Whistleblowing and Discrimination, Unfair Dismissal and TUPE. Fiona has extensive experience of all aspects of the Employment Tribunal process and regularly represents Claimants and Respondents at Final and Preliminary hearings and has secured many high value awards for her Clients over the years.