900 social workers in England are on insecure zero-hour contracts

Nearly 1,000 adult social workers in England are on zero-hours contracts, latest figures show.

The new government has pledged to end “exploitative” zero-hour contacts which give no guarantee of working hours and reduced employment rights.

But data from The State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England published by Skills for Care shows there were 900 social workers in adult services on zero-hour contracts in 2022/23.

That equates to five per cent of the estimated 23,500 filled posts and is a one per cent increase on the previous year.

Ending zero-hour contracts is one of five factors Skills for Care, a workforce development agency, has identified as key to retaining adult social care staff amid high vacancy rates. 

Across the sector as a whole, latest figures show 8.4 per cent posts are vacant, rising to 11.4 per cent among social workers in adult services. 

John McGowan, general secretary of the Social Workers Union, said: “A ban on zero-hours contracts is long overdue and it is surprising to see so many persist in social work. Workers need to have a right to a contract that reflects their regular hours. 

"I am all for flexible working, but a balance needs to be struck between promoting flexibility and ensuring employees have sufficient employment rights and protections."

A ban on zero-hours contracts was promised in the King's Speech as part of a new Employment Rights Bill to be introduced by 12 October.

Labour says its reforms will give workers the “right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work” in the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.”

Nearly a quarter of the adult social care workforce (22 per cent) were on zero-hours contracts during the previous financial year, compared to 3.4 per cent in the wider economy.

Care workers had the highest proportion at 32 per cent.

Unions have welcomed the coming ban on zero-hour contracts, with the GMB saying it will “make a big difference to the lives of working people.”

Other workforce data shows the turnover rate across social care as a whole was 28.3 per cent in England during 2022/23. For social work it was 16.1 per cent.

Social workers have the highest sickness rate of all workers in the adult social care sector, with an average of 10.8 days taken, nearly double the sector average of 5.9.

Another Skills for Care data set for the 2023/24 year released last week – The Size and Structure of the Adult Social Care Workforce in England – reveals the sector is increasingly reliant on workers from overseas.

Some 105,000 workers came to fill care roles in the independent sector – an increase of 25,000 on the previous year.

Meanwhile, the number of posts filled by British nationals decreased by 30,000.

However, changes introduced preventing care workers from abroad bringing dependants to the UK have already seen the number of visas granted dramatically decrease.

Applications plummeted from an average 26,000 per quarter to just 3,300 in the first quarter of 2024, sparking concerns of a major recruitment crisis.

Skills for Care warned: “Early evidence suggests that changes to immigration rules in March 2024 will result in much lower levels of international recruitment in 2024/25 in the adult social care sector. 

“Given this possibility, and the ongoing difficulties with domestic recruitment, it will be challenging for the sector to continue to grow in-line with demand in 2024/25.”