Government’s ‘sleep-in’ back pay scheme is condemned by charities

Topics covered: Ridouts professional advice

Under a new scheme set out by the Government, care providers have been given a year to identify how much back-pay they owe ‘sleep-in’ care workers, and a further three months to pay off the arrears. Charities have criticised this announcement, particularly Mencap who warn that organisations signing up to the scheme could be ‘writing their own suicide note’.

Royal Mencap Society Chairman, Derek Lewis, has said: –

“Three months on from the Government’s commitment to seek a solution to the devastating £400m liability hanging over the sector, there is only the promise of further delay and no commitment, even in principle, to accept responsibility for a liability created by Government changing the rules.”

The impact of this for providers will begin when HMRC start writing to social care employers that have complaints against them for underpaying sleep-in care workers to encourage them to sign up to the programme. Employers that choose not to take part ‘will be subject to HMRC’s normal enforcement approach’.

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