Care workers left 'out of pocket' - councillor

Wakefield Council has been urged to review travel expenses for care workers amid concerns many were being underpaid for delivering home support.

Carers lost earnings due to providers setting "unrealistic" travel time estimates between visits, according to a motion to be discussed by councillors on Wednesday.

Last year, campaign group Fairer Carer Pay said about 500,000 care workers nationally were underpaid by thousands of pounds a year because many did not get paid for their travel.

South Elmsall and South Kirkby councillor Stan Bates, who proposed the motion, said care workers were "either forced to rush essential care or work additional unpaid hours".

According to Fairer Carer Pay, some companies only paid staff when they delivered care. They were not renumerated for the cost of travel between people's homes.

Bates said care workers were "commonly allocated unrealistic travel times between visits".

"Typically, a home carer gets allocated five minutes to travel between calls," he said.

"This is often the case when travelling between Featherstone and Wrenthorpe, for example."

According to Google Maps, that journey would take about 20 minutes to complete under normal traffic conditions.

In its survey last year, Fairer Carer Pay found that 71.8% of home care workers who responded were paid below the minimum wage once unpaid travel time was accounted for, with an average shortfall of £2.51 per hour.

Bates said there were currently about 500 vacant care sector jobs in the Wakefield district.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Bates said poor pay and job conditions were "a major factor driving recruitment and retention difficulties".

"All too often, insufficient reassessment and resourcing places excessive physical and emotional strain on care workers, contributing to high and prolonged sickness levels and high staff turnover," he added.

The motion to be discussed by councillors called on the authority to undertake a detailed assessment of whether travel allowances were "sufficient", taking into account distances "realistically travelled" around the district.

It will be considered at a full council meeting later.

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