It’s hard to know exactly what is, and more importantly what isn’t, included in the advertised pay rates for home care companies.
It’s hard to know exactly what is, and more importantly what isn’t, included in the advertised pay rates for home care companies. Sometimes hourly ‘care’ rates can appear to be higher than others, but can mask the hidden cost of your time when travelling between clients, those lost 15-minute breaks which can be inevitable as you leave one client and arrive early at the next, and of course, the value of your fuel and mileage and your travel time.
Despite the apparent higher rate being advertised, you could lose out if your wider costs aren’t covered too, and you are only being paid for the ‘care’ hours that you deliver. Your time is valuable, and it is our belief that this value should be acknowledged.
At Home Instead, we pay Care Professionals a starting hourly care rate of £14.50 per hour day rate if you work more than 15 hours a week and up to £16.50 for weekends/evening work. In addition its double pay on Bank holidays – recognising the value of your time during these periods.
We also recognise that you can spend a lot of time travelling from visit to visit on our behalf, so there are times when you could ‘lose’ 15 or 30 minutes, as you leave one client and head to another, so we also give a travel time allowance of £13.50 per hour for work related journeys after the first 60 minutes of travel each day, which can add on quite a a lot of pay on top of your hourly rate!
We also know that sometimes you will need to wait in between client visits, but again this has a value to you, so we pay all Care Professionals £13.50 per hour for this time too. This is paid any time you spend waiting for an appointment to begin up to a maximum of 30 minutes.
We also consider it only fair to help with your fuel costs and to contribute towards the upkeep of your vehicle. This is calculated as an allowance of £0.30p per mile. Plus, £0.45p per mile when you take a client out in your own car.
PLUS we offer you the opportunity to develop your skills through paid training and qualifications with our Registered nurse at £13.50, such as the City and Guilds Dementia and End of Life courses, Parkinson’s and Frailty Training and annual mandatory training. We also fund Level 2, Level 3 and Level 5 qualifications for those that want to do them.
On top of this we give you £250 anniversary and refer a friend bonuses.
Finally, we are the only home care company in the South Lakes to only do MINIMUM one hour visits, so you will always be paid for a FULL hour, rather than just 15 minute or 30 minute visits.
So, always compare and double check – does that seemingly higher rate per hour only cover your ‘care’ time, with no additional value given to your time and expenses when getting to and from visits and your time training? In reality you could find yourself on far less than the advertised hourly rate, in relation to the costs you incur and the actual hours away from your own home and life.
We are very proud to be rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC and are rated 9.9 by our clients on homecare.co.uk. We are dedicated to providing the same outstanding level of care and support to our Care Professional’s.
Our Care Professionals say:
Abigail: “Working for Home Instead was like joining a family. This is one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever done for a company that really does what it promises, care for people.”
Rachel: “Home Instead has changed my life. It has given me back a purpose. It’s honestly been the most wonderful experience that I hope will continue for a long time to come”.
If you’re curious about a rewarding career in care, don’t hesitate to call us and discover why we are different. You will also find us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok!
*Please note that pay rates are correct at time of writing May 2023