Penrose Care continues to lead on ethics in home care – implements Living Wage rate increase immediately
Belsize Village, Hampstead, London, UK: Home care provider Penrose Care has implemented immediately the increase in the London Living Wage rate announced by Mayor of London Boris Johnson this morning at Google UK Headquarters. The new London Living Wage rate is £9.15/hour from £8.80/hour.[1]
Penrose Care managing director, Robert Stephenson-Padron said:
“The Living Wage Foundation’s guidance is to phase in increases in the Living Wage over 6 months, but Penrose Care planned for the increase, and therefore – keeping with past practice at the firm – we have implemented the increase starting this morning.”
In October 2012, Penrose Care became one of the first four home care providers in the UK to become an Accredited Living Wage Employer out of then-nearly 6,000 providers. Uniquely however, Penrose Care also pays its workers for travel time between visits.
In comparison, the National Audit Office in March 2014 released a report finding that 160,000 to 220,000 direct care workers in the UK are paid below the national minimum wage “due to deductions for uniforms or due to travel time between visits”.[2] The current national minimum wage is £6.50/hour for persons 21 and over.[3]
“In a sector mired by scandal over the minimum wage, our Living Wage commitment is a credible message internally and externally of Penrose Care’s commitment to ethics. It has been at the heart of our caring culture which results in us attracting top-tier care workers, retaining them, and delivering support to elderly and disabled persons that generates consistent excellent client feedback,” said Mr. Stephenson-Padron. “Implementing an increase in the London Living Wage at Penrose Care is not without challenges, but those challenges are worth surmounting for doing the right thing for our workers.”
Penrose Care employees already on a wage rate higher than the London Living Wage will have their pay reviewed this month.
Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross party support, with public backing from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Today there are over 1,000 Accredited Living Wage Employers in the United Kingdom, more than double last year’s figure of 432.
[1] New 2015 Living Wage Rates Announced (Living Wage Foundation: 3 Nov 2014), available here: http://www.livingwage.org.uk/news/new-2015-living-wage-rates-announced
[2] Adult social care in England: overview (National Audit Office: 13 Mar 2014), pg42, available here: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Adult-social-care-in-England-overview.pdf
[3] National minimum wage rates (Gov.UK, accessed 03 Nov 2014), available here: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates
ENDS
Media Contact
Penrose Care
Robert Stephenson-Padron
robert.padron@penrosecare.co.uk
0207 435 2644
Living Wage Foundation
Emma Kosmin
0207 043 9882
London Mayor Boris Johnson announces the new London Living Wage
About Penrose Care
Penrose Care is an ethical provider of home care services London, United Kingdom to adults with disabilities and elderly persons, including those with dementia. The company operates upon a fundamental belief that to promote a caring workforce, the organisation itself must be caring. As the pioneer of ethics in home care in the UK, Penrose Care in 2012 became one of the first four providers in the country to become an Accredited Living Wage Employer and in 2013 the first independent sector provider to be compliant with Citizens UK’s landmark Social Care Charter.
Penrose Care’s ethical approach promotes higher quality social care workers and low staff turnover which in turn results in excellent care. Penrose Care is headquartered in Belsize Village, north London and was founded by Robert Stephenson-Padron, a healthcare research analyst, and Dr. Matthew Knight, a hospital physician.