Page 37 - Unfair To Care 2024 - Who Cares Wins

SECTION 6: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
A RESPONSE – WITH LIMITATIONS
Reports by CQC and the Health Devolution Commission37 highlight that employers have pursued a range of measures in response to the cost-of-living crisis and
low pay. This includes employee discount schemes
and incentives, extra paid holidays, free food and drink, support with housing and transport costs, and financial support and advice, including pay advances.
Increasingly, care providers are also investing in specialist mental health and employee advice services, such
as legal and debt advice support, low-interest salary advances, and financial support schemes to help their workers navigate the challenges of life on low pay.
DESPITE WORKING WITH VERY FEW LEVERS TO PULL ON, MANY EMPLOYERS ARE DOING ALL THAT THEY CAN TO SUPPORT THEIR COLLEAGUES.
Many care providers, including Community Integrated Care, have also created their own in-house foodbanks and crisis grant schemes to provide immediate assistance to colleagues in desperate need. However, in a context where providers are fighting for survival due to a lack
of sustainable funding, these initiatives frequently either scratch the surface of need or place further financial pressures on providers, with many of these efforts being funded through dwindling reserves.
SARAH MORROW, HEAD OF REWARD AT COMMUNITY INTEGRATED CARE, TALKS ABOUT THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT THE CHARITY OFFERS ITS COLLEAGUES:
“We know that our colleagues are not only grappling with the issue of low pay, they’re also in the middle of one of the biggest cost-of-living crises for a generation. That’s why it’s incredibly important to us that we
offer our teams a package of financial and wellbeing support options to make their lives a little bit easier.
When it comes to increasing people’s wages, our hands are tied by the restrictions in local authority funding so we have to be clever with the things we invest in. Last year, we implemented a significant suite of colleague benefits to help our people access these resources when they need it most, with a specific focus on financial health.
By partnering with Salary Finance, we are able to support our colleagues to access their monthly pay before payday. Whether it’s an unexpected bill or help to spread their money out across the month, we’ve found it’s
really taken the weight off our colleagues’ shoulders.
Our partnership with Salary Finance also means that our colleagues can borrow responsibly with affordable loans, which typically have a higher acceptance rate and lower interest than those from traditional lenders. Not only has this been improving people’s credit score, giving them financial security in the long run, it’s also meant that people haven’t needed to access short-term, unsecured, ‘payday’ loans that usually have extortionate interest rates. We’ve seen significant numbers use these services, with around 11,300 wage advances being given to over 850 of our colleagues – so it’s clear it’s having a huge impact on many.
Of course, this is just one of the financial benefits that we have in place; we’ve also invested in options that give colleagues money-saving deals on everything from electronics to groceries and a Wellbeing Fund
– where people can access a financial grant to get them back on their feet when in difficulty.
We’re proud of our efforts to support the financial resilience of our colleagues, but it shouldn’t have to be this way.
With the right funding, people can be paid fairly for
their essential roles and enjoy the stability and certainty that they and their families so desperately need.”
31. 303.7.
’Stemming the tide: retaining the social care workforce’, Health Foundation, April 2019 MRinepimourtmofwthaegeroruantedstafbolre2o0n24th,eHHMeGwoitvteRrenpmoertnat,nNdotvhemCboesrt-2o0f-2L3iving Crisis, Health Devolution Commission, March 2023
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