This month marks Professional Care Workers’ Week, aimed at recognising the contribution care workers make to society.
Care Workers are often subjected to zero-hour contracts, unsociable hours, and low pay but continue to dedicate their lives to supporting others – including elderly and vulnerable people.
This month, is designed to highlight the invaluable contributions care workers make, as they play a critical role in the health and wellbeing of others.
In this article, we look at the rights Care Workers are entitled to, to ensure they are protected in their vital roles. We also look at what to do if you are not receving the correct protections from your employer.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What do I do if my employer is not exercising my rights?
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
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?
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.
Further reading
Care Workers’ employment rights – Oakwood Solicitors
Whistleblowing – Oakwood Solicitors
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.
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 ex…
