The employment tribunal ruled that the employers, Kaamil Education Limited, Diligent Care Services Limited, and Premier Carewaiting Limited – had acted unlawfully by not paying workers for travel times between visits. They were ordered to pay more than £100,000 in backdated earnings to the ten homecare staff who took the claim.
It is commonplace for home careworkers to have to travel without pay between visits but those workers could now receive large sums in unpaid backdated wages. Unison explain:
“The judgment said that travelling and waiting time of up to 60 minutes between appointments should be treated as working time…The fact that the compensation details involving the 10 workers are public – and not subject to a confidentiality clause – is also significant… Other homecare workers on similar pay rates will now feel empowered to challenge any employers who fail to pay them correctly.”
Careworkers who are working for super-exploitative bosses who do not pay travel time should contact their union immediately and submit a claim for backdated wages for all that unpaid travel time. Any careworkers not in a union can find out how to join here.
Safe and Equal 