Frontline carers forced out by 'harsh and unfair' shift changes
Home care workers in West Dunbartonshire are being forced to quit because new rotas are making their jobs impossible, GMB Scotland warns.
A survey by the union, representing council care staff, reveals many are considering leaving because new shift patterns are unworkable, costing them money and damaging their health.
GMB has now invited all councillors to a meeting to discuss the crisis after warning staff are being forced to cut their hours or work longer and more disruptive split shifts, weekends and late nights.
The poll of workers revealed nearly nine out of ten (85 per cent) say their mental health has suffered because of the anxiety and stress caused by new working patterns while 72 per cent said the changes have cost them money because they have been forced to reduce their hours.
Eight out of ten (80%) believe the redesign has impacted their lives away from work while 58 per cent believe the changes have damaged their pensions and sabotaged retirement plans.
One carer surveyed by the union said she found the new shift patterns and additional responsibilities too much to cope with and had to reduce her hours.
She said: “I loved my job and the people I visited but I just couldn’t cope with the new demands. I ended up in tears every night and just couldn’t keep doing it. It was too much.
“Everybody I know in the service is either dropping their hours or thinking about it. It is so unnecessary and unfair.”
Colleagues describe how they have been forced to move areas after decades, inflicting uncertainty and disruption on vulnerable clients used to familiar carers.
She said: “The managers didn’t want to know. There was no discussion or compromise or any sense that our concerns were being heard never mind taken on board.
“It is an absolute mess. They’ve taken a service full of committed staff and smashed it up.
“There are ways of making changes to improve the service without causing such misery and stress. I want to reduce my hours but can’t afford to so, after more than 20 years, I’m looking for a new job.”
The union had discussions with management to streamline rotas that previously included 600 different shift patterns but said their concerns were dismissed out of hand as it became clear the council was determined to impose new working patterns.
Cara Stevenson, of GMB Scotland’s women’s campaign unit, branded the consultation process a sham and rubbished claims that the union had sanctioned the changes. She warned the new rotas forced an impossible choice on care staff being forced to work more disruptive shifts or suffer a pay cut.
Stevenson said: “At the start of this process, we were promised no workers would face financial detriment but that is clearly not the case and the council has repeatedly moved the goalposts.
“These rotas have been imposed despite the council’s own impact assessment confirming the vast majority of these workers are women who, statistically, have more care responsibilities at home and will be more affected by these changes.
“It is a cruel way to treat workers whose commitment and skills should be appreciated and protected not treated with such disrespect.
“The redesign of this service was intended to improve the care delivered to users. Instead it has been plunged into chaos.
“There is no consistency in the care delivered. Overtime and agency workers are still filling holes in the rota and the morale of a skilled and committed workforce is on the floor.
“This is not a redesign but a crisis completely of the council’s making. It must halt these changes while working with us to find a better, fairer way forward.”
The union has written to all West Dunbartonshire councillors this week urging them to attend an emergency meeting on 29 January to hear first-hand accounts of the impact of the new work patterns on care workers.
It believes there are a number of straightforward changes that could be made to the new shift patterns that would offer new safeguards and minimise the financial impact on workers.
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