Social workers are working longer hours, still bogged down by admin

The average social worker works almost nine hours per week longer than they are contracted to, yet only a fraction of that time is spent with service users, according to research by a recruitment agency.

On average, full-time social workers are contracted to work 37.2 hours in a typical five-day working week, but most work 45.9 hours, the survey by Liquid Personnel found.

Almost two thirds (63.8%) of the 600 respondents said their working hours had grown over the past year.

Yet social workers reported spending only 15% of their time on face-to-face work with service users. Most of their time was taken up by administrative tasks (35%), attending meetings (12%), travelling (11%) and using the phone (11%).

“We’re not surprised by these results, but we are disappointed,” said Jonathan Coxon, managing director of Liquid Personnel. “High caseloads and a lack of admin support means face-to-face time with service users has been on the decline for a long time.”

In a typical month, social workers spend 3.1 hours in training, either internal or external, and 1.9 hours in supervision. The respondents’ experience ranged from newly qualified to those in senior positions.

Related articles

Seven out of 10 social workers at Suffolk Council have less than two years’ experience