CARE WORKERS owed back-payments could face lengthy delays after the government suspended its minimum wage enforcement regime.

Tory ministers announced yesterday that they would waive fines against care bosses who underpaid workers for sleep-over shifts, saying they were giving “additional support for social care providers.”

They said this would apply to “historic” breaches — by which they meant all penalties for such offences before yesterday will be scrapped.

They also announced a suspension of HM Revenue and Customs enforcement against underpayment for sleep-over shifts until October 2.

Whitehall said the financial burden posed by the typical enforcement regime could impact the “stability and long-term viability” of private care contractors.

Care workers’ union GMB branded the decision “ridiculous” and “reckless.”

National secretary Rehana Azam blasted: “This kind of deregulation will cause suffering for both service users and staff.

“Employers may feel emboldened to break the law again in the future. GMB urges the government to rethink their ill-judged decision.”

A government spokeswoman told the Star that the decision would not deny workers back-payments — but she acknowledged that any workers engaged in ongoing proceedings would have to wait until the October for enforcement to kick in.

Exploitation of workers is rife in the care sector — with contracted staff frequently not paid for travel time between assignments, and hours spent sleeping over at patients’ homes.

Unison, which also represents care workers, told a UN rights committee last year that a “climate of fear” was preventing care staff from raising concerns with bosses.

Just a fifth of local councils make it a contractual condition to pay travel time, according to Unison figures.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis branded yesterday’s announcement a “a huge blow for low-paid workers,” accusing ministers of “caving in” to pressure from private contractors.

“Each year, care workers are collectively cheated of £130 million in wages, but this outrageous state of affairs has failed to prompt any meaningful reaction from the government,” he said.

Labour care spokeswoman Barbara Keeley warned: “Delaying enforcement action for a few weeks does nothing to address the issue and is a dangerous and retrograde step that risks undermining the very principle of a statutory minimum wage. “

If an exemption is granted in this case, it will not be long before other employers start pleading poverty to get out of their duty to properly pay their workforce.”