Social care for vulnerable adults is under threat following the ruling that minimum pay rates apply – even for ‘sleep-in’ shifts. And a lot of charities are facing further hardship because of back pay requirements.
Ministers caused anger last week when announcing a voluntary plan to allow care providers 15 months to calculate back pay owed to staff but providing no more money.
Providers of care in the community for adults with learning difficulties are going bust or withdrawing from services because they face a bill of up to £74million a year after the government ruled they must pay for full shifts to staff who sleep over.
Jan Tregelles
Jan Tregelles, chief executive of Mencap, one of the largest charities for people with learning disabilities, said, “Mencap will not enter into any local authority contracts that do not fully cover the cost of all aspects of learning disability care, including overnight sleep-ins.” The charity whose liability for back pay could be £20million, has already suspended future investment projects because of the uncertainty.
As well as future increased costs care charities are collectively facing a possible bill of £400million in back-pay liabilities. This represents six years when ‘sleep-in’ staff were paid flat rates of between £35 to £45. This was successfully challenged at employment tribunals. The cases are subject to appeal, but so far, government has shown no signs of providing extra funds.