Category: fire and rehire

Care workers in Powys face fire and rehire

UNISON members working for Shaw Healthcare have been forced to accept changes to their contracts or face being fired and rehired. 

Carers will no longer have a paid 30-minute break and their shifts have been extended by half an hour. Shaw has also banned staff from eating prepared food with residents at meal times, which was a contractual right. Now staff will be allowed to eat ‘leftovers’ if they pay. 

Shaw executives have so far refused to negotiate with UNISON Cymru/Wales representatives. On Tuesday 11 April, the union wrote an open letter to Powys County Council warning the authority that its care contractor’s bullying behaviour is completely unacceptable and the firm must be reprimanded.

An anonymous care worker told the Brecon and Radnor Express: “In all honesty, we have been held over a barrel. They are targeting the lowest paid and now we’re getting a pay cut – we are paid for seven hours, but they are asking us to work seven and a half hours. When the company told me I felt sick.

“We know what we mean to the residents and we always put them first. We gave up seeing our own families to look after them during COVID so when, as a parting shot, the company asked us to think of the service, I just didn’t feel like a valued member of staff.”

John Byrne, UNISON Powys County branch secretary, said: “Shaw Healthcare is exploiting hard working staff, who are already low-paid. Care workers give everything to support people in our community, but their employer has been bullying them to give up their rights.

“These are local jobs and it is right for the council to investigate and ensure all care workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. Ultimately, directly provided council care services are the best guarantee of standards for staff and services users.”

The care firm alleges the employment conditions of staff must be slashed if it is to win a renewed contract with the local authority.

UNISON has also written to the deputy minister for social care, Julie Morgan, to complain about Shaw Healthcare. It says the care commissioning process has failed and the need to generate a profit is the barrier to improved care services in Wales.

The article Care workers in Powys face fire and rehire first appeared on the UNISON National site.

“We need to outlaw fire and rehire forever”, declares UNISON community conference 

Delegates gathered at UNISON’s community conference in Bournemouth on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 March to pass key motions on fire and rehire, low-paid workers being charged for DBS checks and sick pay for social carers.

Fire and rehire

One of the first motions passed was on fire and rehire – a hostile employment practice where an employer seeks to terminate workers’ existing contracts and rehire them under new terms.

Delegates heard how the tactic has been prevalent in the community and voluntary sectors for decades, and without proper legislative protection employers will continue to use this dodgy practice.

Dismissal and re-engagement (also known as “fire and rehire”) has made the headlines in recent years, with household names like British Gas dismissing workers and re-employing them on inferior terms and conditions. 

Introducing the motion on behalf of the community service group executive, Kevin Jackson (pictured, at podium) said: “Our members need to stop this from happening now. We need to improve our organising and work to outlaw fire and hire forever with any future government”.

The motion called for the service group executive to work with the national executive council to highlight this practice and the effect it has on union members, and support the call for stronger mechanisms to ultimately outlaw fire and rehire.

Low-paid workers being charged for DBS checks

Conference heard how many low paid members in the community sector are being asked by their employers to pay for their own disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks.

The average support worker earns £10.50 per hour and an enhanced DBS costs £38, which means many workers are effectively being forced to pay in order to work. 

Moving the motion, Jordan Creed from London community and voluntary branch described his own experience: “When I worked as a support worker looking after people with learning disabilities, the employer took £20 out of my first two payslips to pay off my DBS check. It means, effectively, they got four hours of free work from me.”

The motion calling on the community service group executive to support the campaign to abolish DBS charges for workers, was started by the UNISON community and voluntary organisations branch and supported by Labour Link.

The motion also requires UNISON to provide practical support by surveying branches to find out which employers are charging for their DBS and to challenge this on social media. 

UNISON assistant national officer Haifa Rashed said: “No one should have to pay to work. If a DBS check is a requirement of a job role, the cost burden should be met by the employer, not the worker. 

“It is fundamentally unfair to force low paid workers to pay for these essential security checks, especially in a cost of living crisis. UNISON is committed to raising this issue with employers and elected representatives and campaigning to abolish this unjust practice.” 

The petition for the London community and voluntary branch’s ‘Abolish the DBS charge for workers’ campaign can be found here. Members can also follow the campaign on Twitter.

“Social care is on its knees”

Social care was high on the agenda at the conference, with four motions related to social care being carried unanimously. Two of these motions focused specifically on the lack of proper sick pay provision for care workers. Many care workers do not have occupational sick pay and so rely on statutory sick pay, which only is paid after three days of absence. 

Introducing a motion on sick pay, Paul Rochford from UNISON’s national major charities committee described the dilemma faced by many in this situation: “Workers are forced to choose between going into work sick and feeding their families or doing the right thing by colleagues and service users and staying away, when not fit to work.”

Last year, a UNISON survey of over 2000 social care workers found that over a third of respondents had used up annual leave when sick in order to avoid losing pay. 

The variety of motions led to rich discussions among delegates, who recognised the disproportionate amount of women and Black members in the workforce who are confronted with severe staffing shortages and poor terms and conditions.

Actions agreed by the motions included:

  • providing clear bargaining support information to reps and officers engaged in negotiations around sickness absence and sick pay;
  • encouraging reps and officers to press for sick pay from day one where this is not already provided and resist any attempts to move backwards where this is already the case;
  • campaigning for improved statutory sick pay provisions and for local authorities and others to specify good standards of sick pay provision when commissioning services.

UNISON social care lead, Gavin Edwards said: “Our members working in social care have had enough of the fragmented, bargain basement model for care which has led to poor quality care and poor terms and conditions for care workers.

“Is it any wonder there are 165,000 vacancies in the sector when workers are asked to do a difficult, skilled job for minimum wage, and often less? 

“UNISON will campaign for the investment the sector needs and reform which will create a National Care Service.”

The article “We need to outlaw fire and rehire forever”, declares UNISON community conference  first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Exam board staff add strike on GCSE results day

New strike dates involving staff at exam board AQA will coincide with the day later this month when students receive their GCSE grades, says UNISON today (Friday).

This is the fourth round of action to be announced in the long-running dispute regarding pay and fire and rehire threats to staff, says the union.

The 180 workers?, including staff in customer services ?who would normally take calls from schools, parents and pupils on results day, will take action from Wednesday 24 to Sunday 28 August.

These new dates are in addition to those already announced that will see AQA staff on strike next week from Wednesday to Sunday (17 to 21 August). A level results are published on Thursday 18 August.

Exam board employees are also striking from today until Monday (12 to 15 August). The first round of action took place the weekend before last (29 to 31 July?).

UNISON says the latest strikes could cause issues for schools, which receive the GSCE results on Wednesday 24 August, and students who find out their grades the following day. Customer services, remarking enquiries and investigations into missing results will be affected by the strikes, says the union.

The union says ?staff have been left with no option after senior managers at the exam board refused to improve a pay offer of 3% and threatened staff with being fired and re-hired on inferior contracts.

?Wages ?at AQA increased last year by just 0.6%? and this year’s offer is less than a third of the current lowest measure of inflation (9.4%?), says the union. UNISON says the dispute will only end if AQA agrees to talk to its staff, but the exam board refuses to do so.

UNISON ?North West regional manager Vicky Knight said: “?Last year staff were given a meagre wage rise. AQA employees are struggling to make ends meet and simply cannot afford to accept the miserly pay award on offer.

“On top of this, AQA is threatening dismissal and re-engagement if staff don’t accept. Threatening the dreadful practice of fire and rehire is no way to make progress in a dispute. AQA managers must come back to the table and discuss a fair resolution.”

A striking AQA worker said: “’The longer this goes on, the more determined my colleagues are becoming. Managers are using aggressive fire and rehire tactics to intimidate staff, which doesn’t help anyone.”

Another said: “The fire and rehire scare threat hasn’t landed well with anyone. Exam board executives say most staff have signed the new contracts but only because they’ve been intimidated into doing so.”

Another AQA employee taking part in the dispute said: “GCSE results week is always a busy time. The fact staff are prepared to strike, knowing the impact this will have on young people, shows how bad things have become.

“No one wants to take this action, but AQA managers need to know that they can’t expect staff to get by on a pitiful wage rise, nor can they continue to treat staff so badly.”

Notes to editors?:
– A memo dated 28 June circulated by AQA said that those who don’t accept the inferior terms could lead the company to “dismiss and reengage the colleagues on new terms and conditions”.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

The article Exam board staff add strike on GCSE results day first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Care home fire and rehire threat will drive staff out of the sector

Care workers, registered nurses and residential home staff employed by Bristol-based care company St Monica Trust are to strike after managers threatened them with the sack unless they accept a pay cut, says UNISON today (Saturday). ?

More than 100 staff at four care homes across south ?west of England were issued with an ultimatum in March that unless they agree to a ?reduction in wages – costing them thousands of pounds a year and watering down their sick pay – they’d be fired, says ?the union.

Four in five workers (82%) who took part in the ballot backed the strike, says UNISON. Strikes will be held later this month at care homes across South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset – the Russets and Sherwood, John Wills House, Charter House and Garden House Residential.

Despite a national shortage of experienced care staff, managers at the trust are targeting the longest-serving and most experienced workers with the heftiest cuts?. The pay threat is ?effectively pushing workers towards other care employers and possibly from the sector altogether, says UNISON.

Weekend pay rates that top up low salaries are to be cut for senior care workers by an eye-watering 21%, while other staff are being asked to take a 10% hit to their salaries, the union says. Workers stand to lose up to £400 a month, just as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, UNISON adds.

To add insult to injury, St Monica Trust is advertising for agency staff to fill gaps left by workers who have quit the trust at up to £7 more an hour (£16.81) than the pay of the threatened permanent staff (£9.80), UNISON says.

The severity of the pay cuts and the impact on employees? – and those they care for – has led families of the elderly residents to add their support for staff, says UNISON.

They have set up groups to petition trust managers to reverse their decision and do more to keep staff who dedicate themselves to caring for their loved ones, UNISON adds. Families have also had to pay increased fees for the care of their relatives.

St Monica Trust’s fire and rehire threat comes after business minister Paul Scully promised to clamp down on the disgraceful practice in March, UNISON says. Instead of an outright ban, the government chose the softer option of imposing a statutory code that would only fine dodgy employers. Last month ministers shelved an employment bill that would have better protected workers against unscrupulous bosses, the union says.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea says: “It’s ludicrous that St Monica Trust is driving out experienced staff when ?the UK is in the ?grip of a care staffing crisis.

“Some workers have been with the trust for decades. To threaten them with the sack if they don’t agree to ?these savage cuts is ?both short-sighted and cruel. Managers’ claims that some staff will receive a wage increase under the plans pits colleague against colleague, worsening an already toxic environment. All staff deserve to be paid fairly.

“?Across the care sector, employees are leaving for better-paid, lower-stress jobs in retail and hospitality. It’s not hard to see why when they?’re treated so shabbily.

“The trust must reverse ?its decision now. The government also needs to make good on its promise to clamp down on fire and rehire, backing up its words with decisive action.”

Notes to editors:
– A relative of a trust resident said: “The way staff are being treated is an utter disgrace?. The ?trust is treating staff with contempt. It’s clear ?it doesn’t understand what a skilled job they do. The ?care workers have gone over and above to provide wonderful care and their dedication has helped keep my relative safe throughout the pandemic. It makes a real difference to my relative and to me to know they are being looked after by a dedicated team they know.”
– A care worker threatened with the sack said: “If I sign the new contract I’ll lose £2,400 a year and I can’t afford that, especially when the cost of food and fuel are going up. I’m already cutting back on food and I can’t remember the last time I bought new clothes. Last year we received a 1% pay rise and we swallowed that because of the impact of Covid. This year we expected a wage rise, but instead we’ve been asked to take a massive pay cut. I will stay and fight the trust, but if we lose, I’ll leave a job that I’ve loved for more than 10 years.”
– Another care worker said: “I’ve worked for the trust for 20 years?. A lot of staff are already leaving for less stressful jobs. The standard of care residents receive is going to suffer. I don’t feel valued?, and the best interests of residents aren’t the number one priority of managers.”
– UNISON’s national conference, which runs from 14 to 17 June at the Brighton Centre will be discussing ways to tackle the crisis in social care including the creation of a national care service.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

The article Care home fire and rehire threat will drive staff out of the sector first appeared on the UNISON National site.