Articles

Sevacare Minimum Wage Dispute

19/09/2016

17 care workers claiming to have been paid less than half the minimum wages have put the wheels into motion for what is possibly the largest legal claim against the Care Sector. This may well be one of the worst breach of pay rules ever to be seen.

The company at the centre of this investigation is Sevacare. They offer a variety of care services which can range from just a few hours a day up to full nights spent with a service user. Sevacare states that their care and support is ‘service centred with the user at the heart of the service’.

Payslips made available from the six years prior to 2016 clearly show that Sevacare were paying some of the staff in Haringey £3.27 an hour. According to a report by the the BBC, this amount is less than half the minimum wage. Sevacare denied this and replied that the hourly rate it paid workers exceeded the minimum wage. Live in care worker’s hours are covered by the ‘daily average agreement’ which pays them for a 10 hour day. The wage of £550 per week therefore works out to £7.85 an hour.

According to Unison this rate of £3.27 was paid to carers who worked in a live in care capacity at that time. The national minimum was £7.20. Carers had stayed with a lady with dementia for periods up to a week at a time, sleeping in her room and assisting her with her needs during the night. The carers stated that they felt like they were in prison, often not being able to leave the house all week. Sevacare disputes the idea that the carers were working 24 hours a day.

Former Care Minister Alistair Burt said that he welcomes ‘scrutiny on workers’ conditions’ even if it meant a massive increase in costs all round.

The employment tribunal also involves former Sevacare staff who are claiming that because they were never paid travel time between clients, their wages fell below the minimum wage. Haringey council, who was actually responsible for commissioning Sevacare, have now also been sued for failing to ensure workers were properly paid. Haringey council has since ended their relationship with Sevacare because of ‘serious concerns’ which they raised with the CQC.

The union Unison stated that because all of the carers were on zero hour contracts, they felt they could not turn down work for fear of being penalised. One of the care workers said that she felt she was working like a slave. ‘They have to treat us like human beings, not just someone who is there to make money for them.’ Unison stated that there is a ‘scandal’ of low pay throughout this sector.

Sevacare stated that while they had followed the minimum wage obligations, the tribunal had highlighted some areas which were relevant to employees and added that ‘the fundamental underlying issue undoubtedly is the inadequate funding of social care for the elderly by government.’

The findings of the Resolution thinktank have brought to light the fact that last year 160,000 care workers in England and Wales were not being paid the national living wage. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has said that it would be investigating whether the big six care providers were paying their staff the minimum wage.