Too Far to Work: The Impact on Home Care Staff -

Many private home care workers within the UK are overworked, undervalued, and underpaid. There are many reasons contributing to this issue, such as a lack of amiable client relationships, greedy company management, and a competitive employee environment.

However, the most detrimental of these is the travel time for household staff.

What makes a Job worth it for an In-Home UK Worker?

Anonymous reports of caretakers employed for a large company include working 10,11, or even 12 hours a day, with only 2/3 of their entire workday being paid for. This is because most agencies do not recompensate workers for their extremely long commute between clients. A domestic worker could end up having 3 calls a day, all having a 30–60-minute distance in-between them. Nobody wants this as their normal commute!

For long-term employee retention – Constant back and forth travel will bring down minds and bodies of employees.
Long commutes – Compromise caregiver’s ability to complete the job with a smile, and with love.
Client Satisfaction – All of these issues effectively hurt the client who hired the worker in the first place if they are receiving subpar care.

Crucial Aspect of Caregiver Retention: Treating them Right

The domestic worker industry, in particular nannies, possess significant turnover rates, reaching around 80% in 2024, an insane number. If you hired 5 staff, 4 of them would quit within the first 3 months. This issue doesn’t stem from job content, but poor work conditions, and it affects caretakers as much as it does employers.

These are simple ways to increase retention and employee well-being without spending loads of money on programs.

Day’s Off – Providing ample sick days, and PTO for caregivers who need it due to illness, burnout, or vacation
Healthy relationships – Regular check-ups, award incentives, and proper communication are perfect ways to facilitate healthy communication.
Work Schedule Adjustments – Changing days worked or adjusting job locations to optimize commute to better suit worker
Local Jobs – Beginning a placement local saves much time for all parties involved
Minimizing Hours – Giving employees fair hours, allows them to spend time as a person. Spending family time, going out with friends, and other recreational activities are the best ways to keep a worker healthy and ready to start the work week!

We understand the commute struggle, and how it affects a staff member overtime. Losing time and money to get to work is no joke, especially over extended periods of time. It’s simply not logistical, and damages all parties included. In order for agencies to succeed in this competitve market, they must take into account this hidden factor.

If your daily commutes or unsustainable expectations assigned onto you have affected your work-life negatively; something must change soon. Consider visiting Nomenial’s website to look at job offers that accommodate your needs with location based placements!

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