HUNDREDS of thousands of care workers are being cheated by scrounging bosses and all because councils don’t insist they’re paid for travel time.

Homecare workers often have to travel miles between assignments  but they are only paid for the time they spend in punters’ homes. This means that average pay can be as low as £3.50 an hour, well below the minimum wage.

But although local authorities can make paying for travel time a condition of contract, research by public sector union Unison shows only a miniscule seven per cent of English councils take this up.

Academics estimate over 220,000 care workers have ended up on illegal wages.

Council excuses for not insisting on compliance included that they relied on the Care Quality Commission and Department for Work and Pensions to carry out checks — even though neither of these bodies are supposed to be responsible.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The government’s feeble guidance to councils will do little to curb the endemic practice of illegally paying care workers less than the National Minimum Wage.

“The only way to stamp out these illegal practices is for the Government to tighten its guidelines to ensure there is a contractual condition between councils and homecare providers that workers must be paid at least the minimum wage. And councils must be required to properly monitor compliance.”

Government inspectors recently fined one homecare provider £600,000 for paying staff less than the minimum wage as a result of stripping out travel time.

The union is urging councils to address a number of factors that contribute to the problem — including underfunding of services. Reps are also pressing for stronger trade union rights, spot checks to expose unscrupulous employers and transparent breakdowns of how contractors use money handed over from the taxpayer.

Unison is urging councils to commit to its ethical care charter — but so far only eight have signed up. A decent wage and more secure employment makes it possible for dedicated care workers to stay in the job and focus on giving the best possible care,” Mr Prentis added.

conradlandin@peoples-press.com