Over the weekend Bristol Care Workers Network (BWCN) celebrated its first year organising in the region, which has taught many lessons and allowed carers to collectively take on big issues such as the integration of anti-migrant policing into healthcare—and announced the launch of a major new wages campaign. The group said:

Recently the law on what is considered working time has changed. As a result, sleep-ins and travel time in between work assignments (including home visits for home care workers and support sessions for support workers) now need to be paid at least the national minimum wage (£7.50 for over 25’s). This is important for lots of groups of workers, but especially affects home care workers, community-based support workers and care home staff.

However, lots of companies have been slow to keep up and BCWN is aware that some companies still don’t pay the minimum wage for travel time and sleep ins, despite recently receiving a reprieve from the government. If your boss isn’t paying you the minimum wage for time spent travelling between assignments or sleeping in, then they are breaking the law and stealing your wages. If this is your boss, then it’s time to start asking questions.

BCWN wants to help workers to stand up to bosses who aren’t paying fairly for travel time and sleep ins. If you work in health and social care, and you think your boss might be paying you unfairly, then get in touch with us and see how we can help you.
Getting in touch: Email careworkersnetworkbristol@gmail.com, visit bristolcareworkersnetwork.org or message them at Facebook.