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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find this job advert unacceptable

31 replies

bigbluebus · 06/11/2015 17:56

A job advert looking for "people who are looking for their first position in the care sector" to join their latest training course "All we ask is that you are a car driver with access to your own vehicle."

This is a job advert placed by a care agency for people who will be working in clients homes on a 1:1 basis.

AIBU to expect that the most important thing they should be looking for is people who actually care and want to make a positive difference to the lives of those who need help - and that the ability to drive/own a car should be secondary.

As a user of care services, this advert - and in particular the placement of the word all made my blood boil as it accentuates everything that is wrong with the care sector. We need carers who care and who are enthusiastic - not car drivers who have been through a brief training course.

OP posts:
putputput · 06/11/2015 18:10

But the problem is that people don't want these underpaid jobs. Recruiting in to home care is next to impossible. I think with a lot of agencies it has become a case of if you're willing you're hired.

laffymeal · 06/11/2015 18:12

Then pay them a decent wage.

ConstanceMarkYaBitch · 06/11/2015 18:12

YABU. Its one of the worst paid jobs there is, and its bloody hard work. Your'e lucky if you get anyone to do it, if you want to reduce your recruiting pool to those who see it as a vocation rather than a job you'll have no-one to employ.
It's a job, not a calling.

laffymeal · 06/11/2015 18:13

My post was to the op.

Topseyt · 06/11/2015 18:23

You do have a fair point that people must actually care and want to make a difference.

They do also need to be able to drive in order to visit their patients.

I think it is the wording that is wrong. It implies that the only prerequisite is the ability to drive.

Caring and driving should both be mentioned IMHO.

Topseyt · 06/11/2015 18:24

And yes, a decent rate of pay would also help a lot.

HarrietSchulenberg · 06/11/2015 18:27

What's the point of re recruiting a carer who can't get to his/her clients? I assume that they have previous experience of recruiting wonderful, caring people who turn round and state they can only work with local clients as they don't drive, or staff who demand a company vehicle.

Haffdonga · 06/11/2015 18:29

YANBU, but sadly it's probably true that their only criteria is being a driver due to the shitty low pay that carers are paid. Sadly a lot of carers are doing the job because they can't get any other. Some carers are fantastic and deserve to be paid a decent wage.

Original poster
bigbluebus · 06/11/2015 18:31

I absolutely agree about the pay. It is a very undervalued job. I wouldn't mind betting that the people that push the paper around in these care agencies get a better hourly rate than the carers but they need to employ people who actually want to care not just someone who is living, breathing and can drive.I appreciate that demand for care workers outstrips supply - it doesn't make it right though.

I have to say we have been lucky with the carers we have had, but my DM who lives elsewhere seems to get a steady stream of disinterested young girls - and they don't even need to drive a car where she is - some of them actually walk to the calls.

OP posts:
Original poster
bigbluebus · 06/11/2015 18:34

harriet I'm not saying that they don't need to be able to drive and have a car to get to clients but the Primary requirement should be someone who cares and the ability to drive is a bonus. This is a national agency and the local office is based in a large town, I'm sure they could find work even for someone who can't drive if they had the qualities to make a decent carer.

OP posts:
Gwenhwyfar · 06/11/2015 18:53

How do you check if someone is caring though bibbluebus?

BrassMonk · 06/11/2015 18:58

Could also be disability discrimination as someone could be perfectly capable of providing care but unable to drive due to a disability.

ComposHatComesBack · 06/11/2015 19:06

I don't think its disriminatory Brass, being able to drive is a requirement of the job to get to appointments.

Am I being discriminated against if Eddie Stobart don't let me razz one of their lorries down the A1 for a living despite the fact I don't have a HGV licence?

Enjolrass · 06/11/2015 19:07

brass that's like saying a job advert for truck driving is discrimination.

You need to be able to drive.

You don't need to see it as a vocation. It's good if they do but not essential. Driving is essential.

Thymeout · 06/11/2015 19:22

From experience, the ability to drive is essential. They get hardly any time to travel between clients. Can't do it if you're on foot or by public transport.

Realistically, if you put 'must be caring' in the ad for a CARER, how many UN-caring people are going to say, 'Oh, that's not for me, then.'?

CaptainHammer · 06/11/2015 20:31

I work in home care. Being a car driver is an essential part of the job.
The one person we took on that wasn't a car driver, left. There just weren't enough service users that lived close enough together to make it viable for her. She has gone to an agency that do doubles round and works with someone else who is a car driver.

Your DM that has 'disinterested young girls' who walk to her, I can bet they are partly disinterested because the are walking around all day, unable to go to as many people and therefore earning pittance!

Original poster
bigbluebus · 06/11/2015 20:55

But captain I know of 18 year old girls (my DS's cotemporaries) who do/have done this job with cars. They love the care aspect of the job but hate the travel between clients and the fact they are given 10 minutes to do a 20 minute journey. One of them left for that very reason and told the agency a few home truths about the way they run their service. She is a very bright young lady who has now gone to Uni to do a nursing degree. My point being whether you walk or have a car - it's the system that is wrong. And I don't agree with 15/30 minute calls either - there is not enough time to do the job properly.

OP posts:
yeOldeTrout · 06/11/2015 21:16

You need to post the entire advert, Bigblue.

CaptainHammer · 06/11/2015 21:17

So imagine being given 10 minutes to do a 20 minute car journey but then having to walk/bike/bus it? Going back to your original post, that's why they advertise for car drivers.

I completely agree that the system is wrong a lot of the time (and makes me appreciate the lovely company that I work for even more!). However in some instances 30 minute calls are enough time for some people. The system some care agency's/councils have of allocating 15/30 minute calls is wrong.
For example, person A needs help showering/drying/dressing, creams applied, breakfast made, meds given, commode emptied/cleaned, bed made, careline on. A 30minute call isn't going to be enough.
Person B however only needs meds and breakfast. 30 minute call is enough.

It's when someone thinks it's a brilliant idea to try and allocate people like person A 30minutes that it is wrong.

BrassMonk · 06/11/2015 23:37

No you don't need to be able to drive to care for someone. It is desirable. Your truck driving job is a bad comparison because the job is driving. In care jobs driving just facilitates the job, the number of jobs you can fit in a shift, etc. there are other alternatives.

BrassMonk · 06/11/2015 23:46

www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/devolved-authorities/commission-scotland/legal-work-scotland/articles/driving-away-candidates-advertising-intention-discriminate

The employer needs to objectively justify the need for a drivers license or it could be indirect disability discrimination.

susielovessocks · 07/11/2015 00:24

I have worked in the home care sector. I was told by senior managers I had to recruit anyone who applied if they had 2 references and a clean crb. I shredded a lot of shitty applications so I wouldn't have to take them on. It was crap and I didn't stay with that company for very long.
The business has since ceased to operate but there are plenty of other companies in their place.

VimFuego101 · 07/11/2015 00:28

It depends where the job is. I've known people do the job successfully with a bus pass or a bike, but obviously that wouldn't be feasible in a rural area where a bus only comes once an hour.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 07/11/2015 00:45

Im disabled and have had shockingly bad carers in the past. Abusive, thieving cruelty. I've told the stories on here before,

But it's not enough to say carers need more pay. There has to be an actual care sector that have different grades or levels which allow people to progress in their career, and ... And this is crucial, it needs to have some way of being able to recruit for different standards or skill sets. Can you imagine an admin profession where there's only one job title? How do you find an admin assistant, vs receptionist vs office manager vs PA, vs.,, err, any other role!

I pay more than the industry average (not just a bit more), yet when I recruit it's a ruddy nightmare to try and find the really skilled and dedicated carers who deserve a good salary... But there's no way of telling people apart, and being disabled, the time and effort and resources I need to put into sifting through the 100s of cv, and interviews, ref checks etc, well, it means I find it awful to recruit.

I have to do it again shortly and am bloody dreading it. I fall for people's glib spin, and I have been burnt so many times my gut instinct ain't working at all. Arrgghh.

HelenaDove · 07/11/2015 01:57

As the employee needs to drive so badly i would have thought this employers priority is to pay a decent wage so the employee can actually afford to run a car.