Home carers who provide essential services for some of the most vulnerable people in Fife have hit out at “Scrooge” council bosses who told them they would not be getting paid for overtime worked ahead of Christmas.
The Courier was contacted by Tayport home carer Sharon Fearn, 57, who said colleagues across north-east Fife and possibly beyond were not being paid for countless extra hours they had put in for October and November.
She was owed around £300, she said, but others were owed up to £500.
She said home care managers had told them this week they would not receive overtime payments until January.
However, following the intervention of The Courier, Fife Council blamed an administrative error and said every effort would now be made to process the payments before Christmas.
Sharon, who has been a home carer for 18 years, said: “We get paid this Thursday but our pay slips arrived last Friday and showed no mention of the overtime we’d all worked. When this was raised with my manager in Cupar he said the payments would not be made until January.”
Sharon, who covers the Tay Bridgehead area, said home carers are on duty 52 weeks per year, seven days a week.
They help frail, elderly people who live in their own homes to get washed, dressed and fed in the mornings.
She said that because Fife Council had not taken on new staff in recent years to replace retirees, some home carers had taken on overtime to cover additional backshifts which helped the elderly get washed, undressed and back to their beds at night.
She is paid £8.40 per hour and works a basic 26.75-hour working week plus overtime but some work longer and get one-and-a-third time pay for working unsociable hours.
She added: “I’m happy to work these extra shifts because these people need us. People have got used to us going.
“But you can’t expect people to work these extra hours and then not pay them for it.
“We worry that if we don’t do the job, then they’ll just get the private sector in to do it.
“I know of a colleague who is due 62 hours’ overtime and someone else who is going on holiday this week and now doesn’t know if she is going to have enough money.
“We’ve never had a problem getting wages before, so why now?”
Another home carer said: “It’s like something out of a Charles Dickens novel. Like ‘Scrooge’ bosses failing to pay their hardworking staff in the run-up to Christmas.”
Martin Thom, Fife Council head of older peoples services, said: “A number of timesheets for overtime worked by some home carers were received late to the payroll section.
“The social work service has asked our payroll colleagues to ensure the payments are processed and payment made before Christmas.”