Can I refuse ?

[lucie333]

Little summary - I've been doing my care job for 6 months now. rota for 4-9/10 o'clock at night. I was told at interview that I wouldn't be finishing that late as I could do everything I needed at visits and move on to next and be done by 8:30, exactly what I have been doing. My last patient I get to at 8 o'clock & he's kicked off a big fuss about my timing saying I'm far too early- he doesn't go to bed I'm just here to assist him into pjs and give meds, he can't leave house so he sits and watches telly until he wants to go to bed. My boss has asked me to ask me to wait in my car till 9 o'clock ( I won't get paid) I've refused- I've reminded her what I was told at my interview. Am I being unfair ?

• my boss has asked me

No way would I be sitting in my car unpaid for an hour and I suspect neither would your boss!!

Wait and not get paid? Jog on with that, esp. as you aren't putting him to bed.

What hours are the care company going to pay you for to accommodate this client's request? 4-9:30? Will you be done by 9:30?

Why aren't the care company paying you until 9:30 or the shift finishes?

Exactly, I'm usually a push over but I stood my ground with this one!

What time are you paid to and from?

Why would you work for free?

I'm posting for the updates on this one 😂

I'm paid per visit if I stay 15 mins for a 30 min visit I'm paid in full. If I leave any earlier than that I only get paid for the time I've done. Hope that makes sense, if I run over there's no extra for that! As apparently they need to request it from social work so I've never bothered when I do given I do usually finish earlier!

So you're doing 15 minutes for each visit but being paid for 30 mins?

No not for each visit. Im usually there for the full 30 mins and roughly 20 mins for bed visits. 1 bed visit I'm only there 2/3 mins as she's already in bed and doesn't require anything so Ill only get paid 2/3 mins for that visit.

Tbh I can understand why the service user doesn't want to be got into PJ's etc at 8, and they're the important one. However this is the agency's issues, so they should be paying you to wait if it is important.

There's people before him that don't have an issue my bed visits start at 6:45. Baring in mind it usually takes me 30 mins to put his pjs on and all his creams & catheter care so I'm out the door by quarter to 9. If I was told this was the case from the start I wouldn't have a problem, but my boss is now going back on what she said at the interview.

For the visits that are 2/3 minutes can’t you stay and chat or clean up something or don’t they want the company? You definitely should not be waiting an hour unpaid. Many people won’t want to go to bed that early so it’s down to the company to sort not you getting paid less.

1 bed visit is 2/3 mins and she's in bed and I've already cleaned up after tea time so there's nothing to do. All the other visits last 30/20 mins

They should be paying the travel/wait time. If sitting for an hour puts you below nmw you have legal recourse.

With care visits, people always complain that the first visit is too late and the last one too early. Unfortunately, carers can't be at everyone's house at 8am and 10pm every day.

Well done for standing your ground. I bet you don't get paid for travel time between clients either do you?

Hmmm my mum had carers like this when she was recovering from a broken hip. When she paid for a carer to come in for half an hour after an earlier accident, the carer would get everything ready for breakfast, put a sandwich in the fridge, vacuum the living room, etc, basically just potter about if my mum didn't need personal care. They would always stay the full 30 minutes and my mum really appreciated it.

After she broke her hip she had carers free of charge and everything was done at a rush. They wouldn't do anything more than personal care, even fill a kettle for the morning. They would phone to ask if any of us (daughters) were with my mum "Do you really need me tonight? I won't get there until midnight..." and did as little as possible. Those who came in the mornings were good, but the night time staff were dreadful.

Id get out, tbh care work is tough enough without being paid in dribs and drabs. I'm 100 percent happier since I left

He's paying for a service and should be able to say what time he has his call.

If it's inconvenient for you ask your boss to send someone else at the time he wants.

He doesn't need assistance to go to bed, just into his pj's and assist meds. No I wouldn't be sitting outside in my car unpaid for an hour. I used to do this work and many clients just needed a pop in visit to make sure they have everything they need, meds, assist into bed etc. Once your done they don't generally want a carer hanging around so it's lock up and leave. Some visits only take 15 mins but the minimum you can book is usually 30 mins

"My mum had carers like this " not sure what you mean by that.

Thank you for your understanding! No I don't get paid travel time unfortunately:(

It's a very vulnerable position to be in, at the mercy of whenever the carer wants/needs to get to you and help you. It must be really frustrating to be limited in what time you do things because you need assistance. Hopefully your manager will sort it out to meet his needs. Obviously you shouldn't be working unpaid though.

This just demonstrates what a difficult job carers have to do (and why they should be paid twice as much!) My mum had carers twice a day and often the morning visit wasn't until 11 a.m. to get her up and dressed and given her breakfast. In fairness the evening visit was rarely before 9 p.m. although she resented going to bed "so early" even though she had a drink and a snack beside the bed and the tv turned on to a programme she would enjoy.

It would be one think if your client was being assisted to bed so early in the evening but it is unfair that the agency expect you to accommodate his wishes and wait, unpaid, until he is ready.