ENABLE Scotland offers staff pay rise above Scottish government-funded increase

07 Dec 2021 News

Theresa Shearer, chief executive, ENABLE Scotland

ENABLE Scotland

The largest social care charity in Scotland has increased the rate of pay for its 2,000 frontline staff for the second time in six months.  

Yesterday ENABLE Scotland announced its rate of pay is now £10.40 per hour, which is 38p more per hour than the Scottish government's hourly rate. 

The move comes after the Scottish government announced it would fund frontline social care pay at £10.02 per hour. 

In October ENABLE Scotland increased the hourly salary for its frontline staff to £10 per hour.  

The latest increase means that the charity has raised staff wages by 90p per hour since September 2021. 

This represents a 4% pay rise, which equates to an increase of £1,800 per year for a full-time personal assistant, or an extra £150 a month. It has cost the charity £2.5m to implement.

Paying above the average

ENABLE Scotland has said it is committed to “appropriately remunerating frontline staff” in an effort to retain its workforce and attract more people into the profession. 

The hourly rate of £10.40 compares to a median rate of £9.01 per hour for social care workers in 2020-21, according to data collected by charity Skills for Care.  This hourly rate is also 50p more per hour than the real living wage. 

It is not the only charity to increase staff wages recently, with Community Integrated Care awarding its front line staff a 9% pay rise this October. 

The move is part of its Committed to Care package and ENABLE Scotland has promised to introduce further incentives to attract and retain its staff.

This includes paying staff in traditionally challenging care roles £11 per hour and introducing a refer a friend scheme where each person receives £500 for referring someone to join ENABLE in a frontline care role. The charity also plans to deliver an onboarding qualification premium, where they will recognise those who have already achieved their SVQ qualification as being committed to care. 

Committed to moving beyond minimum requirements

Theresa Shearer, chief executive of the ENABLE group, said: “It has always been ENABLE Scotland’s view that the living wage was the floor and not the ceiling for frontline social care pay, and we will continue to campaign for an overall package of terms and conditions for a highly-skilled, professional workforce which truly reflects the value of their critical contribution to our society.   

“In the meantime, as a not-for-profit care provider, in partnership with our recognised trade union, we are resolutely committed to investing in our frontline staff teams universally, and demonstrating the impact of going even further in areas where the sector experiences recruitment challenges, or where it is imperative to retain high quality staff teams around an individual.” 

Trade union UNISON supports ENABLE Scotland's emphasis on staff retention and agrees with the charity's belief that social care staff should receive “good pay and conditions”.  

John Mooney, UNISON Scotland head of social care, said: “UNISON, in concert with ENABLE Scotland, has campaigned for better terms and conditions for the social care workforce over the years and we have reached agreements in the past which have benefitted our members and which are beyond the level set for the Scottish Living Wage. It is clear that the Scottish Living Wage is not retaining staff within the sector, and the offer of £10.40 is an example of ENABLE Scotland’s commitment to moving beyond Scottish Government minimum requirements.”

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