British care company fines workers £50 for calling in sick

Motor City Cobra said:
Fair enough...I clearly didn’t read that bit, looked again and still couldn’t see the bit you mention, I read this bit below though.my mistake?

“At present, if someone is genuinely ill, they should not be working. Each cancellation is reviewed by a line manager and if there is a genuine reason for absence, we do not administer a charge. For instance, in 90% of cases in the past calendar year, this administration charge wasn’t applied. There is also an appeal process for employees who feel it has been incorrectly administered. We have appeals that have been successful and unsuccessful.”
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So 10% of their staff were determined by a line manager as to not have a genuine illness?

I wasn't aware their line manager was a competent medical professional with access to their medical records...
 


HellsBells said:
How is that not illegal?
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Because the Tories are in power. It's disgraceful.

I don't care much for most things, most politicians say, but this lass has hit the nail on the head.

'The shadow minister for social care, Barbara Keeley, said the case was “symptomatic of our broken care system”. “Good care quality depends on workers with good terms and conditions, but in hollowing out our social care system through relentless cuts to council budgets, this government has empowered irresponsible providers that are driving down workers’ conditions and at the same time damaging the quality of care,” she said.'
 
Motor City Cobra said:
Fair enough...I clearly didn’t read that bit, looked again and still couldn’t see the bit you mention, I read this bit below though.my mistake?

“At present, if someone is genuinely ill, they should not be working. Each cancellation is reviewed by a line manager and if there is a genuine reason for absence, we do not administer a charge. For instance, in 90% of cases in the past calendar year, this administration charge wasn’t applied. There is also an appeal process for employees who feel it has been incorrectly administered. We have appeals that have been successful and unsuccessful.”
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If you are not ill and you take unauthorised time off then, deducting from wages is more justifiable BUT how do you prove that you are genuinely ill?? Who decides that? What about those who are ill for a few days but not long enough for a sick note? It seems a highly aggressive stance for them to take.

tunstall birdman said:
Because the Tories are in power. It's disgraceful.

I don't care much for most things, most politicians say, but this lass has hit the nail on the head.

'The shadow minister for social care, Barbara Keeley, said the case was “symptomatic of our broken care system”. “Good care quality depends on workers with good terms and conditions, but in hollowing out our social care system through relentless cuts to council budgets, this government has empowered irresponsible providers that are driving down workers’ conditions and at the same time damaging the quality of care,” she said.'
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An excellent summary of the current care system.
 
Motor City Cobra said:
Fair enough...I clearly didn’t read that bit, looked again and still couldn’t see the bit you mention, I read this bit below though.my mistake?

“At present, if someone is genuinely ill, they should not be working. Each cancellation is reviewed by a line manager and if there is a genuine reason for absence, we do not administer a charge. For instance, in 90% of cases in the past calendar year, this administration charge wasn’t applied. There is also an appeal process for employees who feel it has been incorrectly administered. We have appeals that have been successful and unsuccessful.”
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I've read the article and your posts and still don't know what point you're making
 
I thought zero hour contracts were good as they give workers the flexibility to work when they want.
However when workers do this the bosses cry like babies and try to fine them.
Pathetic, NHS shouldn't be dealing with such a shambolic firm.
 
I called in sick to Saturday nightshift with flu but it took my manager about 7 hours to find a member of our lab team willing to cover. I’m not having a go, I was actually quite grateful. A replacement couldn’t be found for Sunday nightshift after trying all day (probably because it doesn’t end until 8:30am xmas eve) so here I am. I can’t be arsed and I can’t wait to get home.

Obviously it’s not as bad as being fined £50 but basically I’ve had to come in sick because a replacement can’t be found.

In my experience if it’s a crappy shift you’re expected to turn up even when sick more than if I was on a random day shift, just because a replacement is hard to find. I imagine it’s the same in a care home.
 
nelford_safc said:
I called in sick to Saturday nightshift with flu but it took my manager about 7 hours to find a member of our lab team willing to cover. I’m not having a go, I was actually quite grateful. A replacement couldn’t be found for Sunday nightshift after trying all day (probably because it doesn’t end until 8:30am xmas eve) so here I am. I can’t be arsed and I can’t wait to get home.

Obviously it’s not as bad as being fined £50 but basically I’ve had to come in sick because a replacement can’t be found.

In my experience if it’s a crappy shift you’re expected to turn up even when sick more than if I was on a random day shift, just because a replacement is hard to find. I imagine it’s the same in a care home.
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What youre describing is illegal
 
GK said:
What youre describing is illegal
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You do the 12 hour nightshifts by yourself. Nobody likes doing them and we work on a rota so the rota either clashes with other shifts (ie person A can’t cover because they are the next nightshifts), people are on A/L and or the others just don’t want to cover because nobody likes them.

Somebody offered to cover Saturday, nobody offered to cover tonight. Total shite :lol:
 
nelford_safc said:
You do the 12 hour nightshifts by yourself. Nobody likes doing them and we work on a rota so the rota either clashes with other shifts (ie person A can’t cover because they are the next nightshifts), people are on A/L and or the others just don’t want to cover because nobody likes them.

Somebody offered to cover Saturday, nobody offered to cover tonight. Total shite :lol:
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If you're too ill to work then its the company's responsibility to sort it all out. Its illegal to make you work. And they have to pay you sick pay.
 
mickb2112 said:
If you are not ill and you take unauthorised time off then, deducting from wages is more justifiable BUT how do you prove that you are genuinely ill?? Who decides that? What about those who are ill for a few days but not long enough for a sick note? It seems a highly aggressive stance for them to take.



An excellent summary of the current care system.
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It is very aggressive and draconian. Anyone who sanctions this action, do not really care about people and should be nowhere near the care sector, nevermind making a living from it.
When a care company cares more for profit, over that of it's workers and clients lives, standards fall, sevice's get cut to the bone and the vulnerable suffer the consequences.
We as a nation need to be disgusted at the problems of what is going on within the care industry and put the care of people, over that of making the care sector a cash cow for private care company owners.
 
GK said:
If you're too ill to work then its the company's responsibility to sort it all out. Its illegal to make you work. And they have to pay you sick pay.
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Oh I agree. I’m on call for Christmas Day because the staff member working it has called in sick 2 of the 3 he’s been down to work. I’m not being paid to be on call, they call it ‘backup’ to avoid extra pay now :lol:

The NHS is phenomenal to patients but shite to staff
 
The Mrs (no) used to do community care and it’s horrific how the staff are treated and how the company operates too.
Most service users have an half hour or hour appointment. She had to call an ambulance for someone in pain, and were heartbroken. She couldn’t leave them and waited 45 minutes for ambulance but then got a bollocking for being late for her next 2 appointments.

Also if she had an half hour call at 9.30 say in the town and her next was at Herrington she would have to leave 5-10 mins early to get there. So the service user doesn’t get full time allocation. When you consider fuel and insurance it’s less than minimum pay
 
GK said:
I've read the article and your posts and still don't know what point you're making
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It’s not a test marra!

peil said:
point of order, you can wank anything if you put your mind to it and think outside the box
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This lads nars the crack

Qwerty said:
However when workers do this the bosses cry like babies and try to fine them.
Pathetic, NHS shouldn't be dealing with such a shambolic firm.
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This is the type of well thought out balanced and factual post I like....
Well said mate
 
Qwerty said:
I thought zero hour contracts were good as they give workers the flexibility to work when they want.
However when workers do this the bosses cry like babies and try to fine them.
Pathetic, NHS shouldn't be dealing with such a shambolic firm.
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Contract should be fair, but I would bet that the employee doesn’t get a £50 payment if the agency cancels the job at short notice.
 

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