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Hello there,
I have a question about an issue which has just arisen at a social care Foundation where I work. Forgive me if I go into detail, but I want to be as clear as possible about the nature of the problem.
The Foundation covers two distinct Directorates. Directorate A is a large residential unit which handles clinical residential needs for the elderly and physically disabled. Directorate B covers three areas for younger people who are both physically and learning disabled: Day Services, Residential and Supported Living. Day services is for people who come in to use resources during the day, then go home. Residential is for those with greater needs and who live there permanently (and they also can attend day services, if they receive funding for it). Supported living is for people who can live relatively independently, but who still need staff to be with them on premises 24/7 to assist with things like cooking, medication, travel, etc. They also, again if funded for it, are allowed to go to use the day services. They can also go to the residential unit for socialising and meals. More recently, too - with staff shortages exacerbated by Covid - they have had to be taken to the residential unit during the day to be cared for by residential unit staff (alongside the residents they also have to care for). So there are frequent crossovers between the three services. All services are staffed by contracted Care and Support Workers, who share the same contract. This is also the case for Care and Support workers in Directorate A. Staff in both Directorates fall under the Care and Support Worker contract that covers the whole Foundation, with the same clause obligations covering shift patterns, night work, lone work and so on. Similarly, all staff under those contracts are paid the same basic rate of pay, and the same enhancements for nights, overtime, bank holiday working, etc. They also all receive the same training. So there can also be crossovers between the Directorates in terms of staffing. Care staff can, essentially, be asked to work in either of the Directorates, and in any of the areas within Directorates, as operational needs require. Having said that, notionally each Directorate and facility has tended to have 'dedicated' staff. Day services staff mainly stay in that role, and so on. This works best as it allows for consistency of care for all service users. This also worked well up until the Covid pandemic began. Each area was then strictly locked down. Once the lockdowns ended, though, the crossovers resumed - and they became more frequent as the staff exodus from social care began to take effect.
These shortages eventually led to an unofficial (i.e. not requiring a contract variation) amalgamation between the residential and supported living areas in Directorate B. This meant, effectively, that care staff in those areas became interchangeable, with residential staff often having to cover supported living during a full shift, and vice-versa . It also led to a situation where supported living residents were more frequently brought to the residential unit on a daily basis and left there for full care.
That's the background. Now to the problem.
Recently, our local authority has increased the fee structure for supported living clients in all social care facilities across the county. This has resulted in supported living care staff at our Foundation being given a 4% pay increase, plus extra enhancements for night work. But the rise has been given to them alone - not to the designated residential staff, unless those staff do a full shift in supported living. They don't, though, get any extra for looking after supported living clients in the residential unit during the day if they are on a residential unit shift. They also don't get extra if they are on a residential shift, but have to go to a supported living client to administer medication, make a meal, or give personal care. This, as you can imagine, has been very divisive. To add to it, we then have the night work issue. The nature of the client groups, and their capabilities, means that supported living night staff can do a 'sleep night', whereas residential staff have to do a 'wake night'. That's always been accepted, and wake nights have had a higher rate of pay than sleep nights. This increase, though, has now led to a situation where the supported living staff doing a 'sleep night' earn more than the residential staff doing a 'wake night'!
I think you can see the issue here. My question is - surely there has to be a formal contract variation issued to reflect these increases, doesn't there? That does not appear to be the case. All that has appeared so far is a letter from HR informing staff of the increase for supported living staff only. Also, if staff doing a residential shift have to also look after supported living clients during the day, administer meds, prepare food, do care - then surely they should get the enhanced pay rate for that time, shouldn't they? No, they don't. Not currently. They only get the enhanced rate if they are rota'd to do a full shift in supported living. The amalgamation, remember, was unofficial and required no variation of contract because all care staff in Directorate B come under its aegis - just as they and all care staff in Directorate A come under the general aegis of the Foundation. Similarly, too - if supported living staff attend day services, surely the day service staff should get the enhanced rate for that day? Nope.
My contention is that there have to be variations in all care staff contracts, across the Foundation, stating that all care staff - if they are asked to work either for a full shift or as part of their current shift with supported living clients - should be eligible for enhanced pay for that time. This is not happening.
What do you think? I'd be very, very grateful for any thoughts and suggestions.
I have a question about an issue which has just arisen at a social care Foundation where I work. Forgive me if I go into detail, but I want to be as clear as possible about the nature of the problem.
The Foundation covers two distinct Directorates. Directorate A is a large residential unit which handles clinical residential needs for the elderly and physically disabled. Directorate B covers three areas for younger people who are both physically and learning disabled: Day Services, Residential and Supported Living. Day services is for people who come in to use resources during the day, then go home. Residential is for those with greater needs and who live there permanently (and they also can attend day services, if they receive funding for it). Supported living is for people who can live relatively independently, but who still need staff to be with them on premises 24/7 to assist with things like cooking, medication, travel, etc. They also, again if funded for it, are allowed to go to use the day services. They can also go to the residential unit for socialising and meals. More recently, too - with staff shortages exacerbated by Covid - they have had to be taken to the residential unit during the day to be cared for by residential unit staff (alongside the residents they also have to care for). So there are frequent crossovers between the three services. All services are staffed by contracted Care and Support Workers, who share the same contract. This is also the case for Care and Support workers in Directorate A. Staff in both Directorates fall under the Care and Support Worker contract that covers the whole Foundation, with the same clause obligations covering shift patterns, night work, lone work and so on. Similarly, all staff under those contracts are paid the same basic rate of pay, and the same enhancements for nights, overtime, bank holiday working, etc. They also all receive the same training. So there can also be crossovers between the Directorates in terms of staffing. Care staff can, essentially, be asked to work in either of the Directorates, and in any of the areas within Directorates, as operational needs require. Having said that, notionally each Directorate and facility has tended to have 'dedicated' staff. Day services staff mainly stay in that role, and so on. This works best as it allows for consistency of care for all service users. This also worked well up until the Covid pandemic began. Each area was then strictly locked down. Once the lockdowns ended, though, the crossovers resumed - and they became more frequent as the staff exodus from social care began to take effect.
These shortages eventually led to an unofficial (i.e. not requiring a contract variation) amalgamation between the residential and supported living areas in Directorate B. This meant, effectively, that care staff in those areas became interchangeable, with residential staff often having to cover supported living during a full shift, and vice-versa . It also led to a situation where supported living residents were more frequently brought to the residential unit on a daily basis and left there for full care.
That's the background. Now to the problem.
Recently, our local authority has increased the fee structure for supported living clients in all social care facilities across the county. This has resulted in supported living care staff at our Foundation being given a 4% pay increase, plus extra enhancements for night work. But the rise has been given to them alone - not to the designated residential staff, unless those staff do a full shift in supported living. They don't, though, get any extra for looking after supported living clients in the residential unit during the day if they are on a residential unit shift. They also don't get extra if they are on a residential shift, but have to go to a supported living client to administer medication, make a meal, or give personal care. This, as you can imagine, has been very divisive. To add to it, we then have the night work issue. The nature of the client groups, and their capabilities, means that supported living night staff can do a 'sleep night', whereas residential staff have to do a 'wake night'. That's always been accepted, and wake nights have had a higher rate of pay than sleep nights. This increase, though, has now led to a situation where the supported living staff doing a 'sleep night' earn more than the residential staff doing a 'wake night'!
I think you can see the issue here. My question is - surely there has to be a formal contract variation issued to reflect these increases, doesn't there? That does not appear to be the case. All that has appeared so far is a letter from HR informing staff of the increase for supported living staff only. Also, if staff doing a residential shift have to also look after supported living clients during the day, administer meds, prepare food, do care - then surely they should get the enhanced pay rate for that time, shouldn't they? No, they don't. Not currently. They only get the enhanced rate if they are rota'd to do a full shift in supported living. The amalgamation, remember, was unofficial and required no variation of contract because all care staff in Directorate B come under its aegis - just as they and all care staff in Directorate A come under the general aegis of the Foundation. Similarly, too - if supported living staff attend day services, surely the day service staff should get the enhanced rate for that day? Nope.
My contention is that there have to be variations in all care staff contracts, across the Foundation, stating that all care staff - if they are asked to work either for a full shift or as part of their current shift with supported living clients - should be eligible for enhanced pay for that time. This is not happening.
What do you think? I'd be very, very grateful for any thoughts and suggestions.
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