Care worker salaries aren’t up to scratch
Council one of six to be identified
Stirling Council was among six Scottish local authorities found to be advertising care worker jobs below the real living wage despite making pledges to pay at least that much, new research has revealed.
The real Living Wage is an hourly rate of pay set independently and updated annually (not the UK Government’s National Living Wage). It is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, and employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis.
The council was one of the pioneers of the Living Wage among Scotland’s local authorities, first implementing it for its workers in April 2012, and it became an accredited Living Wage employer in 2015.
However, figures from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) named the authority in research which found thousands of jobs across the UK advertised with salaries short of the UK’s real living wage of £9.50 per hour.
In Scotland, over 50 care jobs commissioned by Fife, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and Stirling councils were all found to have advertised below £9.50 per hour between October 2020 and April 2021.
This was despite those councils being signed up to UNISON’s ethical care charter in which they commit to paying home care workers at least the real living wage.
Across the UK more than 60 per cent of care worker jobs advertised in the past six months paid less than the real living wage, amounting to over 7,000 jobs.
The majority of jobs advertised in Scotland under the living wage came from a small number of providers.
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “As part of the Scottish Government’s settlement, funds are provided to ensure that the Real Living Wage is paid to those who are employed in the delivery of homecare to adults and older people.
“Stirling Council commissions care and support under the Scotland Excel Care & Support Framework, which required participants to pay care staff the Real Living Wage of £9.30 per hour when the framework was approved in April 2020.
“Scotland Excel confirmed that all of the providers delivering care to adults in Stirling had committed to paying their staff at least the Real Living Wage.
“All framework providers were awarded a rate uplift from April 2021 to ensure they can continue to pay all care staff employed under the contract the new Real Living Wage of £9.50 per hour.”
Union bosses say social care is in “urgent need of reform”.
Commenting on the UK wide figures, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “With the sector starved of resources, many councils are forced to commission care at bargain basement rates, resulting in poverty pay for highly-skilled staff.
“But despite the odds being stacked against them, many local authorities have tried to do the right thing by getting on board. If some councils don’t appear to be meeting their charter commitments, UNISON will investigate.”