Question/advice about DH's Care work

Does anyone here do care work for a living? - as in a position where you would go to people's homes and assist them with bathing, fixing meals etc?  If so, is it standard for these companies not to pay hourly? How much is the usual petrol reimbursement? Right now the company my DH has been working for - for the last 5 months does not pay hourly, but rather by client visit time.  He works 12 days on, 2 off and usually 10-15 hours a day but generally only gets paid for 7 hours or so at 7 pound per client hour. (Most of the rest of the time is drive time between towns to clients houses, he literally does hundreds of visits a week) He gets 10-15 pounds a week in petrol reimbursement.  Is this normal for these companies?  It was hard for him to get this job due to being out of work for so long, so we are happy that he is working but with petrol costs/wear tear on the car we are barely meeting our expenses every month and forget saving. He is getting so burned out he wants to quit and the time we do see each other a day - usually an hour or so is taking a toll on our relationship. He is suppose to be getting an NVQ 2 by September at this company.  I want him to stick it out and finish the NVQ if possible and find another place to work for, but do most companies in this field only pay per client hour? 

Ultimately he would like to work in care management and he figures that getting a few NVQ's along the way will help with that.  Anyone know any other courses he could take to help him get into this position as soon as possible? 

Is this normal for these companies? 

I have read/heard some ghastly stuff about these companies. I would suggest contacting/joining the applicable Union (I think Unite - http://www.unitetheunion.org/). They can advise. 

I will see about contacting them. I am not familiar with unions - what I think they do is: you pay them a membership fee and they are suppose to ensure you have fair wages? Is this correct? Would contacting a union bring trouble and get my DH canned? Curious.

Well I don't know what kind of contract your husband is working under. Certain industries too have different regulations. For instance your husband perhaps isn't being payed for the travel in between clients. This might be legal. The care industry lobby is probably pretty powerful and that is just the sort of exemption they would like to see.

By joining a union (on researching it looks like UNISON is the appropriate union) your husband could get counseling as far as what is legal and what is not.  And it actually makes his position stronger as the employer would know he was represented. To fire someone for joining a union is serious.

Union dues (fees) are rated to earnings so as a minimum wage member it wouldn't cost very much.

He could also contact his local Citizen's Advice Bureau which provides free legal advice. They probably know all about this as it is a big issue:

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/20/03/2013/119021/non-payment-of-travel-time-for-care-workers-breaks-minimum-wage-laws.htm

Looking at the big picture, this ill treatment of care workers is morally repugnant. In the end it saps the goodwill from the worker with the result that the quality of care for ill and vulnerable people is reduced greatly. It is a terrible indictment not only of the treatment of lower-waged workers, but of the sick and old.

Looking at the big picture, this ill treatment of care workers is morally repugnant. In the end it saps the goodwill from the worker with the result that the quality of care for ill and vulnerable people is reduced greatly. It is a terrible indictment not only of the treatment of lower-waged workers, but of the sick and old.

A million times THIS.

My grandmother has had careworkers for 5 years in the States. The burnout/turnover rate is huge. I can't tell you how many careworkers she has had already. If I had to ballpark it, I'd say 25-30.    The best ones either burn out (from taking on extra shifts for the no-shows), or move up to management. Since my grandmom also has the support of my parents, she is often sent the worst workers, as the better ones are saved for those who are in greater need. That is understandable, but still not a big help to my grandmom, who can't do anything on her own.

I have seen how the bad treatment of careworkers affects their general attitude first-hand. It's a huge problem in both countries.

I do hope, StealthG, that you get the answers you are seeking and that your husband is able to find a position that rewards him for his hard work.

Thanks SoS - I'm going to contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau and see what they say in general then ask them more info about joining a union.  Thank you for linking the article, sad to know that it is multiple companies doing this. 

Definitely not a long term job there is no way anyone could survive on that pay and working those hours. DH will work from 7am till 3pm then usually back on shift at 4/5 until 9 or 10 at night.  I thought it would be best to hold out for the NVQ but if they are jerking him around and either not replying to his phone calls or emails about the classes or what he needs to learn from the textbook he just bought. I think it's time to move on to another company NVQ or not. I'm trying to get him to apply elsewhere this week.

- question if you work for some place and quit before taking holiday do you get that tacked on your final paycheck? He's not been able to get any time off in the last 5 months.

FG - Yep! So many factors playing into the lousy care and bad attitude of the workers. Like DH's rota is just... impossible.  It's written as see Mr. Bob at 1:00 -1: 15, see Mrs. Jane at 1:15 -1:30, etc. Impossible to get from one side of town to the other in 0 minutes, sometimes they schedule him 3-4 people at the same time which means he is always late for getting to the other three. You can't stay later then your time frame. Sometimes if the call doesn't take as long as it's suppose to the workers have to jet out of there to try to use that extra time to make up their behindness in getting to the next person, which only hurts their pay because now they are paid for less than the actual call would have been because they left early. Also the workers are so rushed and frazzled that they make stupid mistakes that end up just hurting the clients.

I have no direct experience with this, but my friend's wife works as a carer...it has been very difficult for her and the family. She has developed a pretty thick skin but she is human and is a good person - very sympathetic (which sadly seems to be a double-edges sword in that business). But it takes an emotional toll as she deals daily with stuff that can be pretty grim if not sometimes horrific. 

On top of all the other stuff try and keep a bit of a watch on your husband for signs of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. If it is affecting his mental well-being, going to a GP for it would help and also help establish a paper trail in case of any problems with his employer.

Looking at the big picture, this ill treatment of care workers is morally repugnant. In the end it saps the goodwill from the worker with the result that the quality of care for ill and vulnerable people is reduced greatly. It is a terrible indictment not only of the treatment of lower-waged workers, but of the sick and old.

Yes. This.

You could also contact Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service): http://www.acas.org.uk for advice - sounds really stressful!