Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will introduce legislative proposals to ensure social care workers and home care providers are paid costs for travel to clients, training and on-call time in addition to being paid for the time spent with those for whom they provide care.

Jo Swinson

The Government already makes clear in legislation and guidance that travel time between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate. Whether a worker paid by the hour is entitled to the minimum wage for periods such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. We have updated our guidance on the Gov.UK to make it clear that time spent travelling between assignments and rest breaks must be paid at least the NMW.

In relation to training, the NMW rules state that, where a worker is paid according to the number of hours they work, the NMW must be paid for all time spent training.

Workers who are required to be available to work, either on standby or on call, should also receive at least the NMW rate for this time, although there are exceptions in some circumstances.

We encourage any care sector worker who believes that they have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints. In addition, they are currently undertaking proactive enforcement action into the six largest care providers.