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Original poster

Struggling with community care job

22 replies

Nooooope · 18/09/2026 10:01

I've done this before but I didn't drive back then and calls were within reasonable distance.

I've started in another company on contracted hours which is more appealing, and they required a driver. I was told during the interview I'd be in the same geographical area but this is not true, we are often driving 4 to 5 miles between calls, yet being given 5 minutes of driving time.
I think mileage is paid at 40p per hour but travel time isn't paid.

The issue is they want us to stay 90% of the call time, which is the client's right as they pay for these calls and deserve to be given the full time, but they allocated yesterday for instance 5 minutes to get from 1 call to another when the drive time was actually 13 minutes. We sometimes do double calls but can't both go in 1 car because we also have our own single calls in different areas so it's impractical.

I enjoy being with the clients but I'm stressed by the rota and driving. Does this sound acceptable? It seems to be common in home care from what I've seen, does anyone have experience of it whether as an employee or relative?

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isitmadnessorwine · 19/09/2026 11:07

It is one of the worst jobs in terms of taking advantage of people.

Death, disease, bedsores, hoists. Sunday mornings, Christmas Day, late evenings, early mornings, rainy days, heatwaves. Bloody awful.

smallglassbottle · 19/09/2026 11:07

Either go to another company or try to get into a care home. If you approach another company, explain the problems you've had and ask how they avoid these situations. Ask how they plan their visits.

Another option is to find a one to one job. I used to care for a young woman with learning disabilities in her own home. We also went on visits to places. Some parents need care for physically disabled children who are perhaps peg fed or need overnight supervision. My friend's sister cares for a man who has MS and lives in his own home with his wife. You need to get looking for alternatives. The type of home care you're doing is absolutely brutal and not many people do it even medium term.

Munchyseeds2 · 19/09/2026 10:53

Better companies do exist and would bite your hand off..

HoraceCope · 19/09/2026 10:47

Do raise it, more of you who raise it should help

Original poster
Nooooope · 19/09/2026 10:31

cityliving99 · 19/09/2026 07:10

Set up on your own. There is a huge demand.

Yes, i wish I could, I wouldn't know where to start but it would be great.

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Original poster
Nooooope · 19/09/2026 10:31

HoraceCope · 19/09/2026 06:29

when i did this we had 6 weekly supervision.
do you get supervision?
you need to raise it

We do, i haven't had one yet but I will raise it, I'm just worried about looking difficult or like a troublemaker as I'm new. Another colleague has raised similar concerns but nothing changed sadly.

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cityliving99 · 19/09/2026 07:10

Set up on your own. There is a huge demand.

HoraceCope · 19/09/2026 06:29

when i did this we had 6 weekly supervision.
do you get supervision?
you need to raise it

Original poster
Nooooope · 19/09/2026 06:23

Your rota can change with 30 minutes' notice which wasn't communicated to me initially- if it's in your availability window they can add on an extra few hours' work without asking, I wish this had been made clearer.

In my old company they would at least ask earlier, but here I was meant to finish at 6pm the other day, and at 17:20pm i had another 3 hours' work added on without being asked, I managed to race home for 10 minutes to get something to eat and charge my phone.

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Catza · 18/09/2026 16:56

Nooooope · 18/09/2026 13:41

I've just calculated and if you include travel time I'm paid below min wage.

So, I had the same issue when I was working and the advice from CAB was that the care agency is supposed to top up your wages so that they make up at least minimum wage. It was a long dispute but I did eventually get my money back and left shortly after. I absolutely loved the job but couldn't deal with the stress the office was putting me under and constant back and forth about the pay.

Original poster
Nooooope · 18/09/2026 13:41

I've just calculated and if you include travel time I'm paid below min wage.

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Spaniels4Eva · 18/09/2026 13:37

I did it for 18 months and burned myself out. I had asked for 16 to 20 hours to fit around my then primary aged school children but was often given 36 to 42 hours and it was impossible to change/handover to other staff. I put 24k on my car in a year from the madness of doubling back on yourself constantly, and in the end, I left to do shifts in a nursing home that was far more manageable in terms of rota. It was the most thankless job I've ever done.

Original poster
Nooooope · 18/09/2026 13:36

thedogisfine · 18/09/2026 13:35

I worked in a company the exact same as what you’ve described. I had to shadow the lead carer while I was still training. I followed her in my car. At one point she was doing 90mph and I obvs lost her as I wouldn’t go that fast. She then gave me a row for not keeping up and said I’d impacted the time with the client. I lasted one weekend.

I had the exact same thing. I got stuck due a road closure/diversion and got caught at a level crossing, she was there before me and asking why I was late, saying she'd already done most of the care.

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thedogisfine · 18/09/2026 13:35

I worked in a company the exact same as what you’ve described. I had to shadow the lead carer while I was still training. I followed her in my car. At one point she was doing 90mph and I obvs lost her as I wouldn’t go that fast. She then gave me a row for not keeping up and said I’d impacted the time with the client. I lasted one weekend.

Original poster
Nooooope · 18/09/2026 13:35

I'm on £1 above min wage, and my colleague has already raised it, but said nothing has changed and they pretty much said you can leave a call 5 minutes early to allow more travel time.

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Touty · 18/09/2026 13:34

You should be paid for travel time.

LunaTheCat · 18/09/2026 13:33

Care companies are so so exploitative.
You cannot survive on a carers income.
It’s because women do caring work.
? Can you look for another job slowly .

Pumpkindice · 18/09/2026 13:06

Are you on minimum wage? I'm sure there were cases in the press about not being paid travel time and it being unlawful, though I think it was around minimum wage laws.
Care companies are notorious for bad practices and taking advantage of staff though.

buckeejit · 18/09/2026 11:48

I think there’s an expectation to suck it up but it is unreasonable. I’d say put a stop watch on when you leave one house until you’re the door of the next & note them all then email the office & ask if you’re meant to cut clients time shorter or be late or cut a client.

it’s sucks & Yanbu

Sunbringer · 18/09/2026 11:44

Just tell them it’s impossible. See what they say

Catza · 18/09/2026 11:42

When I worked as a carer, we had reasonable driving time (albeit unpaid). This was over 10 years ago and standards seemed to have deteriorated since. Have you raised it with the office?
The office people of all care agencies should be sacked, as far as I am concerned. They make the job of carers absolutely insufferable with their idiotic planning. I had clients who lived within 10 minutes from my house, yet they would send me to another town to do my rounds and the carer from that town over to my area to do hers. Makes zero sense and I could never get a straight answer out of them about this. I am convinced they did it purely out of spite.

Original poster
Nooooope · 18/09/2026 10:03

Or because of client call times, we have some clients who live on the same road/very close by but they won't put them as consecutive calls on the rota, they'll have us driving back and forth.

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