Camden council in north London is the latest local authority to adopt UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter.
The move will help both the people in the borough who receive home care services as well as the 860-strong home care workforce.
The charter sets minimum standards to protect the dignity and quality of life for people who need home care.
It commits councils to ensure that providers give workers enough time, training and a living wage, so they can provide better quality care for thousands of service users who rely on it.
Home care workers will be paid the London living wage, be offered fixed hours in place of zero hours contracts and enjoy better training.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Camden council is setting a great example in adopting UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter and tackling the problems with home care contracts head-on.
“Making this commitment to decent employment conditions for care workers is all about improving the quality of life for the people they care for.
“A living wage and more secure employment will help make it possible for dedicated care workers to stay in the job and focus on giving the best possible care.”
The move shows that despite the very challenging financial situation being faced by many councils that it is still possible to improve the treatment of homecare workers.
Camden council leader Sarah Hayward said: “Despite facing our toughest financial challenge ever, we are committed to investing in this area where we know it will have the biggest impact on the lives of our most vulnerable residents.
“By raising wages for home care workers employed by our providers we’re going even further in helping to tackle inequality across the borough.”
The Ethical Care Charter [PDF]
