So, i started my first day of shadowing today as the final part of my training. They printed out the girls rota of who i'm shadowing and she starts at 9.30 and finishes about 3.30 monday to friday.

So, i assumed she was full time.. wrong..

She only works 16 hours, which is what i'll be doing. But you only get paid for the time you're actually in the clients houses and it doesn't take into consideration all the travelling inbetween.

Is this normal?

If my rotas the same as hers when i start properly i'm gonna need alfie in nursery full time while i'm only doing 16 hours.. and i don't see tax credits agreeing to funding that?!

No, but when i was cleaning it was similar! I would do maybe 4 or 6 hours in a day but actually not be home all day cos of having to travel 20 mins here there etc

In the end I stopped doing it cos the travel was doing my head in!

I've only done it one day so far & i hate the travelling!

Not good when the first thing you do after your first day is to search for new jobs.

I have an interview next week at a hospital so fingers crossed i get that one where i don't have to spend the majority of my time in my smelly car!

My friend used to be a care assistant and yup she only got paid for the slot times she was in people's houses doing a 'call' eg 15 min or 30min. She did get milage but for driving in between.

It didnt seem to mean she had to work much longer but. She was based in our town and the calls are worked out to be pretty much 5 min drive away from eachother. It seemed to be sometimes she was booked in for 15 min to give a cup of tea, but could make it in 5 and then have a 5 min chat and leave 5 min early, or a 30 min call for a shower might take only 20.. this covered her travelling time to the next house.

Prob not the fairest thing on the clients, but its what happened. The agency knew about it too & turned a blind eye as there was no way they could fit all their calls in on time if they spent the full time at each house.

I dont think I could manage it with nursery hrs/tax credits either. Plus the majority of agencys here prefer early and evening work which is hard to get childcare for and involves split shifts eg 7am -10am and then back in from 6pm-9pm. Hope you get something sorted and your interview goes well. x

I worked on Home care but it was local authority so we were paid for travel time too, They used to do our rota's so the clients were close together.
I think its bloody cheeky that they don't pay you for travel time - Its not exactly 'your' time when your travelling between clients houses!!

Well, i just had a thought!

The girl i'm with this week doesn't drive, so maybe her days are so spaced out to allow her time to get buses to each client. Whereas i drive my rota might be abit more condensed than hers is as it will be alot easier and quicker to get to each client?

My thoughts exactly Zee!

I'm still 'working' for them while i'm travelling round getting to all their clients! It's not asif i'm at home sat on my bum inbetween!

My experience of home caring was similar to yours and the reason why i only lasted about 2 weeks before i gave it up, i felt awful not giving the clients the full time slot and overan my hours when stuck in traffic etc so was effectively still working but not geting paid, i changed to a residential seting and found it much more rewarding

i work in homecare at the moment - you are right about childcare it's really tricky as to make up 16 hours i could work anything from 2 to 7 shifts. i do get paid for gaps and travelling though, so i may have a shift from say 7am to 12noon with an hour between people in the middle yet i would still get paid as i am available to help other people out/be on call/stuck in the middle of town and not at home!

i would question the travel time tbh and make sure you get paid for it.