New minimum pay rates come into force for many key workers, including care staff
minimum wage

‘We believe the Court of Appeal got this decision completely wrong and will do everything we can to reverse it’
Responding to Office of National Statistics figures published today (Wednesday) that show that the number of workers on zero-hours contracts has increased to 905,000, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Zero-hours contracts are everywhere in social care. They give the upper hand to unscrupulous employers and silence employees who fear they’ll lose hours if they […]
If the government wants to spend money on tackling low pay, there are better alternatives – like real legal enforcement of the minimum wage to penalise unscrupulous employers and introducing a living wage low-paid workers can actually live on, a legal minimum wage worthy of the name.
Commenting today (Monday) on the government’s new advertising campaign to raise awareness of the minimum wage among low-paid workers, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The minimum wage was introduced nearly two decades ago but still there are employers who think they’re above the law. “Rather than spend money on expensive PR campaigns, the government should […]
Commenting on the 360 employers named and shamed today (Wednesday) by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for failing to pay the national minimum wage, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This list fails to shame the larger care firms who are equally guilty of denying staff a fair wage. Those in the spotlight today are just […]

Failure to honour the minimum wage is endemic across the care sector as many homecare workers are unpaid for the time they travel between home visits – which can be up to a fifth of their working day, says UNISON today (Thursday). The union is urging the government to end the systematic underpayment that it […]
From today, many low-paid workers will begin to receive the so-called “national living wage” – of course, the new wage level is anything but