If you’re a Care Worker in the UK you could be due a big payout

This week one of the largest Care Agencies in the UK paid out a settlement claim of £1,250 to a former employee after she sued them for refusing to pay her for her travel time between home visits – paving the way for thousands of Care Workers to make the same claim.

Caroline Barlow, 56, a former employee of MiHomecare, claimed that she was paid less than the minimum hourly wage as they refused to pay for her travel time in between home visits. As she was making around 8 home visits per day around the South West of England in her own car, the travel time meant she was working for 12 hours but only getting paid for 7.

MiHomecare have now settled the case out of court, and have changed their policy so that this isn’t repeated in future, but this leaves the door open for around 500,000 Care Workers in the UK to make similar claims against current or former employers who could owe similar or larger amounts to their staff for time worked but not paid.

With nearly 1 million people in the UK needing this kind of care, it seems only fair that those providing it get paid for all of their working time. Let me know what you think in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

If you think you could be entitled to a payout for a similar claim you can find useful information about your rights at the Citizens Advice Bureau.