Homecare - Living Wage / Travel Time - Freedom of information requests

Title or Description: Homecare - Living Wage / Travel Time
FOI Number: 110
Date Received: 31/01/2022
Type of Request: FOI
Request or Question: a) Does your council currently make it a contractual condition that your externally commissioned homecare providers must pay their homecare workers for their travel time? b) Does your council ever review the payslips and minimum wage records of your externally commissioned providers to monitor compliance with the national living wage?
c) Please list the steps that your council has taken to ensure that your externally commissioned care providers are paying their home care workers at least the national living wage.

d) What action, if any, would the council take against any
externally commissioned care providers that have been found to be non-compliant with paying the national living wage?
Response: a) Travel time is proportionately included in the consolidated hourly rate.
b) Yes
c) The following clause is noted in the agreed variation between the Council and the provider:
* The Provider agrees that the entire uplift should be applied directly to wages to meet the Real Living Wage commitment.
* The Provider agrees that the funding increase shall be used to pay as a minimum an hourly rate to all care and support staff of the Real Living Wage of xxxxx per hour commencing from (date applied)

d)
* The Provider agrees that remuneration can be periodically monitored by the commissioning authority, including direct verification with employees of the Provider.
* If as a consequence of monitoring, the Council should find that the uplift has not been entirely transferred to wages, the Council reserves the right to reduce funding to the Provider to:
i) compensate for any period of overpayment.
ii) make future payments at the previous agreed rate until the terms of this agreement are complied with.