The
National Living Wage was brought into effect from the 1st April 2016
and raised the recommended wage for workers aged over 25 years to £7.20 an
hour. In the UK, the legal minimum wage supports all
workers over this age in being able to earn an appropriate amount, but the
National Living Wage enables people to earn a decent amount in order to live
their lives to ‘acceptable’ standards.
Social
care has been a sector that traditionally has paid poorly. It often involves
unsociable hours, working with and supporting challenging behaviours, caring
for those who need more help with being able to live their life to the fullest
- for very low pay. The care sector itself has been underfunded for many years and
local authorities and trusts have struggled to pay social care providers, the
fees that should reflect improving and quality care. As fees are cut to balance
the books so-as-to-speak, the wages paid to healthcare workers by social care
providers therefore have been historically low, causing a retention loss of
staff and a lack of consistent recruitment of qualified staff.
Although
paying the national living wage will therefore be a challenge to many
providers, there are a number of positive outcomes which can benefit any
organisation. In a sector where compassion and dedication is a necessary
employability component, the difference in the amount paid to a member of staff
per hour, can mean that the sector could attract more healthcare workers who
are qualified or have aspirations to make care their career choice. Therefore,
recruiting a higher calibre of applicants with the right attitude to vacancies,
is an increased possibility and could reduce the amount of agency staff (who
are more expensive to employ). The sector is always under close scrutiny for
its quality of provision and safeguarding, and a staff which consists of more
capable, motivated workers can support organisations in meeting the minimum
care standards and other legislation.
As
always, there are implications which will affect employers and organisations in
terms of costs and a reducing lack of funding, but it is important to consider
the following - if the healthcare worker’s role is central to the quality of
care being provided, the right level of applicants will only be attracted to
the sector if the pay reflects the work being undertaken. Therefore, the
National Living Wage benefits the individual staff member as well as the
organisation.