Historic financial penalties owed by care homes who have underpaid their workers for overnight sleep-in shifts are to be waived, the Government has announced. Learning disability charity Mencap said since 1999, care homes operated under advice that time spent asleep by care staff in residential homes and supported living residences…

Low-paid jobseekers are being conned out of hundreds of pounds by being duped into applying for fake work, it has been revealed. The Government urged recruitment firms to do more to tackle the "rapidly growing" problem of job scams, saying victims are losing up to £500 by paying up-front costs.…

Ministers have been warned the clock is ticking for them to prevent the collapse of care providers for people with learning disabilities. Mencap said the Government had until August 15 to halt HM Revenue and Customs enforcement action over demands to fund £400 million in back-pay for sleep-in carers. The…

Organisations looking after people with learning disabilities could collapse due to a £400 million bill for back pay for carers, the chairman of Mencap has warned. Derek Lewis claimed the financial impact would be "devastating" for smaller care providers, and even a charity as established as the Royal Mencap Society…

The 'UK Social Workers - Working Conditions and Wellbeing' report, by Dr Jermaine M Ravalier of Bath Spa University, explores working conditions & wellbeing of social workers and found stress at work is a significant issue for employees.Stress has been shown to be related to negative health complaints such as…

Independent care homes in Scotland are "on the breadline" due to a recruitment crisis and wage pressures, according to a new report. Industry body Scottish Care said the sector is facing a "real emergency" including further closures unless remedial action is taken within the year.The Care Home Workforce Data Report…

The number of nurses and midwives leaving the profession has risen 51% in just four years, with those under the age of retirement citing low pay and poor working conditions. New figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) show that for the first time in recent history more midwives…

Labour has accused the Government of a "shambles" over public sector pay, amid confusion over the future of the 1% cap on annual rises. Hopes were raised that the long-standing cap was set to be scrapped, after a senior Number 10 source briefed reporters that Prime Minister Theresa May accepted…

A summer of protests by nurses and other health workers is being launched amid warnings of a ballot for strikes if the Government does not remove the 1% cap on NHS pay. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will stage demonstrations at 30 locations across the UK, including…

The Welsh Government is supporting growing demands for the 1% cap on NHS pay to be scrapped. Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething (pictured) has called on the UK Government to make funds available so health workers in Wales receive "the pay rise they deserve". He said: "I've today written to…

A levy on workers of around £360 a year would help tackle the social care funding crisis, a public services think tank has suggested. Under the plans set out by Reform, based on a similar model in Germany, a compulsory insurance scheme would see working-age adults pay a monthly sum…

Public sector workers have seen their incomes fall "drastically" because of the Government's cap on pay rises, forcing many to cut back on food shopping, a study shows. A survey of 6,500 workers by Unison also found that just over half had borrowed money from family or friends and one…