Dear Member
Hi again! We hope you’re keeping well- we can’t believe it’s the middle of the week already!
Introducing the Newest Member of our Team!
We are delighted to inform our members that Wirral Unison have employed a full time Organiser focusing on the Social Care sector. John Boggan joined us in his new role this week and will be working to organise and campaign amongst our Care Worker members. John has many years of experience in the trade union movement including in negotiation and campaigning; skills that will be invaluable to members and the union alike.
John will be focusing on improving pay and conditions, including the wider implementation of the Real Living Wage and seeking to negotiate recognition agreements and develop union activists within the sector. We have invested in this post because we are committed to improving and increasing the union but also to delivering a better working life for our members.
John will be contacting our Care Worker members in the coming days and weeks to introduce himself and to find out more about the issues facing members in the workplace so that Wirral Unison can best support you and enhance your life at work.
Statutory Maternity Pay and Covid
When lockdown was imposed in March, the Government produced a list of people who were classed as clinically vulnerable, included in this list were pregnant women. For people in this category, if they were unable to work from home and unless their workplace could be made safe, they were advised not to go to work. Unison’s view was that people in this situation should be at home on full pay, and we were able to ensure that many were. A number of those classed as clinically vulnerable, alternatively may have been eligible to be on furlough, receiving 80% of their normal pay.
However we are aware that a number of employers chose to only pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to those clinically vulnerable and unable to work as a result. We are absolutely clear that this action was wrong and unfair to those who are at increased risk. We are particularly concerned that pregnant women have been doubly disadvantaged by this decision. Not only have they lost out on pay whilst unable to work, but potentially there may be an impact on their Statutory Maternity Pay.
To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, which is the government’s support to new mothers paid over 39 weeks. Pregnant women must have earned at least £120 per week on average during the 8 week period before they commenced maternity leave. However, Statutory Sick Pay is just £95.85 per week, which means that women who have been unbale to work and receiving only SSP for 8 weeks or more may miss out on Statutory Maternity Pay. Statutory Maternity Pay gives a new mother 90% of their average weekly earnings for 6 weeks then £151.20 or 90% of the average earnings if this is lower for the next 33 weeks; so the financial impact may be significant.
We consider this situation to be potentially discriminatory. It is being challenged on a national level, but we will also challenge locally. If you have been affected by this, please get in touch with us.
Webinar- redundancy and the right to be informed over planned job cuts
UNISON is organising a webinar on 27 August to help support activists around redundancy and the right to be informed over planned job cuts. The union’s head of legal services, Shantha David, together with legal officer Ben Patrick, will outline key aspects of such situations.
The webinar is aimed at supporting activists as we enter a period uncertainty this autumn, as the effects of COVID-19 In the workplace continue – particularly as the furlough scheme draws to a close. UNISON has campaigned tirelessly on a range of issues to protect its members at work during the pandemic. As the lockdown eases around the UK, the need to ensure we protect people’s jobs becomes paramount.
The union’s members undertake a variety of roles delivering essential services to the public. Employers have legal obligations – even where UNISON does not have recognition – and activists and members have legal rights to be informed and consulted in a meaningful way when employers want to cut jobs and services.
To register, click here and join us at 2pm on 27 August 2020 to find out more.
Please feel free to email private.contractors@unison.co.uk in advance any topics or questions you would like to see answered during the session.
Unpaid Carers Deserve Better
Millions of people take on responsibilities for providing unpaid care to an older, disabled or ill relative or friend; and this has increased dramatically during this crisis. They juggle their jobs and caring commitments, often having to use their holiday entitlement or take unpaid leave to deal with unexpected demands. These carers, left high and dry by our underfunded social care system, often end up losing out financially, sometimes even having to give up their jobs. It is estimated that unpaid carers save the UK £132 billion every year. At the very least, they need enough paid leave to help them balance their caring and work commitments.
The Government has begun to recognise the injustice of this situation and is consulting on a proposal to give employees five days of unpaid leave each year to provide care. The TUC in their response to this consultation (which we support) have called for
- 10 days’ paid carer’s leave for all workers from their first day in the job.
- Ensure the notice period is proportionate to the amount taken, with no notice required for leave of three days or less.
- Allow carers to self-certify (for a period of up to 10 days) when they take the leave.
- Pay leave at the rate of the Real Living Wage rate, funded by the state.
A recent report by Carers UK highlights that there has been a massive increase in the number of carers since lockdown began. 4.5 million people have started providing unpaid care, of these 2.8 million are also in paid employment. This represents nearly a 50 per cent increase in the number of unpaid carers since the crisis began. 7 million people now juggle paid work and unpaid caring responsibilities.
Women, who make up the majority of unpaid carers, are more vulnerable to economic hardship during this crisis than men. They are more likely to be employed on insecure and zero-hours contracts - particularly BME and migrant women - and to be working part-time. They miss out on working parents’ and carers’ rights, such as flexible working, unpaid parental leave and time off for family and dependents. Many carers in work are also living in poverty they are twice as likely to use food banks as other people. Their mental wellbeing has deteriorated since before the pandemic and and has suffered more than others.
Care Workers, poorly paid and undervalued have rightly had their situation highlighted during the crisis. But we do not forget carers, unpaid often hidden and undervalued. For more on this subject see this TUC blog.
That’s all for today everyone. We hope you continue to find our regular email updates of use and as always, please feel free pass our updates on to colleagues and encourage them to join Unison if they haven’t done already. Here’s the link to join up! JOIN UNISON
Enjoy your evening and we’ll be back in touch soon.
In solidarity!
Lois and Dave
Branch Office: 0151 666 3040
Central email: unison1@wirral.gov.uk
Published on: August 13, 2020