To: The Government
Fairer deal for workers in Care Homes.
Make sure the minimum wage is not interpreted as the MAXIMUM wage. Theoretically a person could be stuck on the minimum wage for the whole of their working lives, this is wrong as there is no incentive to get promotion or do NVQ's. Care Home owners do not want to pay more than the minimum wage and this exploits those who care for the most vulnerable in society. Care workers also do the most awful of jobs including clearing up vomit, excrement and urine. Not a pleasant job by any means.
Why is this important?
This kind of exploitation is wrong and should not be tolerated in this 21st century. Long term it is also detrimental to those being cared for as care homes are often short staffed and workers work very long shifts of 14 hours or more, often without a break or food. A care worker I know of collapsed with exhaustion, she was taken to hospital but went back to work on her discharge after a couple of hours. Not even sent home for the rest of the day. That is how short staffed care homes really are. The pressure is enormous and intolerable and the pay is derisory.
