To think it's not on to smoke and then go into somebody's home?

[Hedgehogcrossing]

My great aunt for whom I am one of the next of kin has carers as she has dementia.

I have to admit I haven't generally been thrilled with the service: they never stick to the times allocated and don't seem very caring in some cases but also many of them smell very strongly of cigarette smoke - I think they must be lighting up then literally coming in. As great aunt needs personal care they are breathing it right in her face as well as preparing her food which just strikes me as horrible.

AIBU?

I employ NMW workers and if they want to light up just before work, or when they finish shift that is none of my business and it would not be acceptable in employment law for me to discipline them over it.

Hedgehog, the phrase that keeps coming to mind while reading your posts is "Wants five-star, pays two-star." I understand why you're upset - really, I do, despite being a hardcore smoker! What I don't understand is your lack of empathy for people doing hard, depressing work in awful conditions.

Couldn't you just pay for more time?

Caring work can be really crappy. I know of one care agency in the area where I live where carers are only paid for their time at the house. They have to drive from house to house and do not get paid for all their travel time, they just get their fuel costs covered. Taking into account time spent travelling from house to house they get far less than NMW.

You can't disregard wages tho Memphis. If you want someone to do a consummately professional job, then you need to pay them a professional wage. I don't particularly want to use the phrase "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" because carers do a fantastic job during their paid time, but it does bear thinking about.

Ral they do get petrol but not wear and tear. So they run their own car for work paid for themselves. They can get a top up from hmrc to cover wear and tear but only if they are paid for 37.5hrs pw over the full tax year - so travel time doesn't count, sick days don't count etc. It's just another farce that carers put up with.

I've just looked up the annual salary equivalent of NMW. It's £13,124. As so many others have said, agency carers don't even get this because they're not paid for all their hours (only about half, as far as I can tell.)

Adding on NI and insurance, etc, could you and your brother afford a full-time carer for your aunt?