to quit my job after 2 weeks?

[sweetlilacsinspring]

Because:

1. The hours are awful. I'm a home care assistant and I was told I'd be doing a couple of hours a couple of evenings a week. The reality is - start at 6, finish at 11. 24 people to see in that time. I'm driving all over the place, am permanently shattered.

1. Pay is rubbish.

1. Working conditions are non existent - no breaks, had to pay for uniform, crb etc, aren't paid for travelling time so if I go to one person and the next is 10 mins away and the next and the next it amounts to half an hour unpaid.

1. Paid by the minute - so if you finish early it's docked off your pay (I'm talking 1/2 minutes not hours by the way!)

1. I hate it.

But I'm worried as I haven't worked properly for a few years now.

Start searching for other jobs. Sounds grim.

Did you really not establish all of this beforehand?

Maybe. Everything seems the same though - zero hours, crap working conditions, etc.

I understand how people end up permanent SAHMs!

Foxy - I work for minimum wage, I'm really, really thick, so no, I didn't.

If you are unhappy then leave.
However I have always found that getting another job is easier to do if you are already employed so maybe applying for other work and still doing this job is a better idea.

Poor you - sounds awful. Can you get your head down and get on with it for a little bit so your CV looks better (while still looking for better work)? If it's making you truly miserable you should leave though. Good luck.

In fairness, although I am quite thick, what I was told at interview and the reality have differed vastly.

For example, the travelling time thing doesn't matter if you're going to Mrs A and then Mr B who live round the corner from one another. If Mr B lives 2 villages away from Mrs A, negotiating through two primary schools at 9 o clock, then it does matter.

Kim I can claim mileage but only if I'm driving. If the other Care Assistant drives then no, it's just dead time.

I'm wondering if doing it for such a short amount of time is better as in a sense I can eradicate it from my cv and "just" be a SAHM for a while longer.

Domiciliary care is certainly not great sadly. Underpaid, under supported and over exposed. Would you consider staying long enough to gain experience then use that to pursue a job in a care home? Admittedly it's not a huge step but at least you are paid for a shift not by the minute, less traveling and you work as part of a team. Leaving after 2 weeks will make it harder to get another job whether it's in care or not.

Leave. It sounds grim.

You could work in a shop for the same pay or more and be less stressed and hard worked. Not to say that retail is an easy job but the hours will be better regulated at least!

It's horrendous!

I don't think I could do a care home. The advantage (ha!) of this was that I thought I could do a couple of hours at lunch a couple of times a week, and a couple of evenings a week, the reality is, I can't call my life my own and in return I get less than I'd get on Jobseekers.

It's ridiculous.

I wouldn't just leave, apply for other jobs while you're still working. It's much easier to get a job if you're in a job.

Doubt I'd get anything else. I think I'll just have to leave. There's no way I can stick it for long enough to sort another job, no way.

It doesn't surprise me kim Really upsetting.

I know this doesn't help you in your current situation OP but threads like this make me really angry. How can we as society value caring roles so little that the people doing them are treated like such shit? These people they are caring for are our parents, our grandmothers and grandfathers, our aunts and uncles. They will be US someday.

OP if it were up to me, you would all get a massive raise. I'm sorry it's so bad.

It makes me angry, too.

I pray nothing ever happens to me that means I'm reliant on a care agency, as it's horrific.

Yanbu.
It is exploitation and should not be allowed to happen in this day and age, especially in this country.

Unfortunately we do not value those who care for the vulnerable in our society, tendering out to the lowest bidders etc.

Those giving and receiving care are not being well served by the people responsible for the budgets. This is something that needs to change.

Who was it who said that "history will judge us on how we treat the vulnerable in our society" (or words to that effect)?

I would leave.

It is terrible, the whole industry is exploitive but the advantage is it gets you out of the horror of the signing on cycle. It's always easier to find work when you are working.

Im not signing on

It's probably better paid though.

Sounds awful. Working conditions like this are appalling and make it impossible to provide an acceptable level of care. Agencies like this abuse the goodwill of their employees who care about their clients so often put in extra hours that they don't get paid for. Start looking for other jobs - how about care work in a hospital? Much better pay and working conditions and you have care experience. And when you get a better job I'd be inclined to raise concerns with the CQC about the level of care provided by this agency. Good luck.