Ministers have worked closely with the sector in response
to concerns over the combined impact which financial
penalties and arrears of wages could have on the
stability and long-term viability of providers.
The exceptional
measures announced today are intended to
minimise disruption to the sector by recognising these
unique pressures, and ensuring that workers receive wages
they are owed.
Social care providers play a vital role in supporting
some of the most vulnerable people in our society and
workers in that sector should be paid fairly for the
important work they do. The government remains equally
committed to making sure workers in this sector receive
the minimum wage they are legally entitled to, including
historic arrears.
The long-term stability and success of the social care
sector is a priority and the government has already
allocated an extra £2 billion of funding to the sector,
including an extra £1 billion this year.
The government will continue to look at this issue
extremely carefully alongside industry representatives to
see whether any further support is needed and ensure that
action taken to protect workers is fair and
proportionate, while seeing how it might be possible to
minimise any impact on social care provision.
The government today announced it will:
- waive historic financial penalties owed by employers
who have underpaid their workers for overnight sleep-in
shifts before 26 July 2017
- temporarily suspend HMRC enforcement activity
concerning payment of sleep-in shifts by social care
providers until 2 October 2017
Government reaffirmed its expectation that all employers
pay their workers according to the law, including for
sleep-in shifts, as set out in guidance entitled
‘Calculating the
National Minimum Wage’.
