Social care wages in England

    (Click here
    for a pdf of regional pay break down for children’s and
    adult’s services social workers.)

    Last month we looked at recruitment and retention of social
    workers in local authorities from figures in the social services
    workforce study. This month we look at wages paid by local
    authorities in September 2002.

    The average mean paid to social workers in England was between
    £22,000 and £22,500. This is an increase of about
    £1,000 on the previous year (September 2001). Occupational
    therapists were paid just over £22,500.

    However, this picture obscures some important regional
    variations because the national average figure is distorted by the
    London and south east figures.

    London comes out on top with children’s social workers now
    earning more than £26,000, which is about £1,500 more
    than in 2001. But social workers who work with adults are only
    earning a few hundred more than the year before. In the south east
    social workers earned on average about £23,000.

    There has been well documented pressures on London and the south
    east for more social workers especially in children’s
    services where vacancy rates of more than 40 per cent are not
    uncommon in London boroughs and the average is 17 per cent. For
    example, in the aftermath of the death Victoria Climbié, the
    much criticised children’s services department at Haringey
    Council embarked on boosting existing staff morale and recruiting
    more by paying up to £34,000 for qualified children’s
    social workers.

    In all other regions of England social workers were earning
    between £20,500 and £21,500.

    An idea of what can be earned can be given by the average
    maximum (this is the average of the top quarter of earners) for
    field social workers and occupational therapists. This was just
    under £25,000 a year.
    Other upper average maximums include:

    • Home care organisers £23,000
    • Home care managers £27,000.
    • Managers of older people’s homes between £27,000
    and £28,500 depending on size of home.
    • Children’s homes managers (up to 15 places)
    £28,500 and deputies £25,000.

    Hourly pay

    • Pay for staff by the hour was employees in elderly
    people’s homes averaged £5.70 per hour, those in
    children’s homes £9.30, and home care workers £5.70
    per hour.
    • Hourly paid staff were paid higher rates for shift, weekend
    and night shift work.

    Benefits and allowances

    • Around 4 out of 10 social workers had access to career
    grade progression where their salary could increase.
    • Few councils operated merit or productivity pay
    schemes.
    • Between a quarter and a third of local authorities also
    paid a lump sum long-service award.
    • Most commonly available pay benefits were lump sums payable
    for long service.
    • Golden hellos and market supplements were rare with only
    one in 10 of children’s and one in 20 of adults’ social
    workers receiving them. Only 6 per cent of occupational therapists
    were receiving them. No other social care staff were offered these
    payments.
    • Most common non-pay benefits for social workers were
    paternity leave (78 per cent were offered this), career break
    opportunities (45 per cent) and one in five had a casual car
    allowance.
    • For home care workers nearly three-quarters had paternity
    leave and 43 per cent casual car allowance.
    • Four out of 10 regional managers had annualised hours. 

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