Highly-skilled overseas senior care workers are today (9 September) facing a renewed battle to retain their immigration rights, following the publication of a report by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). The report recommends that only care workers who earn more than £8.80 per hour will be classed as in short supply and allowed to apply for a working visa. UNISON, the UKÕs largest public sector union, is calling for an urgent rethink to avoid a serious skills shortage.
UNISON National Secretary, Heather Wakefield said:
ÒWe are calling for an urgent re-think of the points based system. £8.80 is way above what many care homes can afford to pay. Unless the government commits major funding to paying this salary, the recommendations will disrupt care services and risk lives by creating a serious skills shortage.
ÒThe UK relies heavily on the efforts of overseas care workers, and due to population change we are going to need far more of them, not less. It is unbelievable that people who look after horses have been added to the list, but care workers earning less than £8.80 per hour have been excluded. How can looking after horses be more important than taking care of elderly and vulnerable people?Ó
Notes to editors
In July this year UNISON wrote to the MAC stating the case for classifying senior care workers as a skilled. The submission urged the MAC against using pay rates as an indicator of skill level. In the care sector wages have been kept low due to competition, local authoritiesÕ stranglehold over fee levels and the persistent undervaluing of what is seen as ÔwomenÕs workÕ.
The median average wage level for care workers with NVQ level three in the UK is £6.25.
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