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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Benjamin Summer

Care workers should get £10.50 legal minimum wage, bombshell report says

Care workers should get a £10.50 legal minimum wage - £1 higher than for other workers, a bombshell report said tonight.

The government's own migration watchdog called for a separate salary floor to correct the shortage of workers in the sector.

And the Migration Advisory Committee warned the staffing crisis was caused partly by the end of freedom of movement after Brexit.

The Mirror reported in January that 97% of care workers say their homes have staffing shortages, and one in three workers say staff levels are “dangerously low.”

One warned: “The dying are not dying with dignity as there’s not enough staff to sit with them in their final hours.”

The pay should be higher than the national living wage (AFP via Getty Images)

The government-commissioned report said ministers should introduce a new fully funded minimum wage for workers providing publicly-funded social care, at a higher rate than the National Living Wage.

The report said there was “no reason” why carers’ pay should only rise when the National Living Wage does, as this wouldn’t make care more attractive in comparison to other sectors.

The report said: “These problems are the result of years of policy decisions not to fund the social care system properly.

“However, the end of [freedom of movement] has contributed to shortages in the social care workforce.”

The report also recommended that social care workers should be paid for hours spent travelling and sleeping while at work (Getty Images)

Under new post-Brexit rules, care workers originally needed a Skilled Worker visa to come to the UK from abroad – which requires either a salary over £25,600.

Workers can qualify with the lower salary of £20,480 if their job is in a ‘Shortage Occupation’ – but care workers weren’t included in this until a U-turn in December 2021.

The new report stopped short of recommending cutting the salary threshold – which could’ve allowed more workers in, but on poverty wages.

The report also recommended that social care workers should be paid for hours spent travelling and sleeping while at work.

It said “whilst these hours are not being properly compensated, low paid workers are being underpaid for their time spent at work.”

Immigration minister Kevin Foster thanked the report authors for their "valuable contributions".

He added: “The Government will consider the report and its recommendations carefully before deciding what steps to take next.”

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