Fifty-strong group joins union in bid to 'hold employers accountable’
A group of foster carers has joined a trade union in a bid to receive employment rights – and may pursue legislation to achieve them.
Around 50 former and current carers voted in Westminster this week to join the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). It follows the start of a major campaign by the same union to have acollection of cycle couriers recognised as workers rather than contractors. In both cases, the people involved are set to argue they should have certain employment rights because of the control placed on them by those who pay them.
A spokesman for the union said foster carers did not have contracts but were paid by councils, which often told them to do certain things and put various obligations on them. “We are trying to move them towards a status where they at least have contracts and can hold employers accountable,” he said.
Jason Moyer-Lee, general secretary of the IWGB, said: “These people are workers. They are professionals who are paid to know what they are doing. We would like to see foster carers given better working rights, whether recognised as workers or through new legislation.”
Moyer-Lee said issues raised by foster carers at this week’s meeting included sick pay, holiday pay, pensions, wages and the right to due process and union representation.
“There are two options for improving rights,” he said. “One is a test case and we are working with a leading barrister on the possibility of getting a case to the Supreme Court. Another route is to use legislation.”
The union said it was working with shadow chancellor John McDonnell to look at the possibility of bringing forward legislation. McDonnell hosted the foster carers’ meeting at parliament and said on Twitter that he was “very proud” to do so.
The MP told the BBC: "Foster caring is an essential role in our society. They have never really been recognised and had legal rights. They should have security of their employment and be properly paid as well, and they should have the support that they need."
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We really appreciate the work foster carers do, as we know it is a very rewarding – but at times challenging – experience. Foster carers receive financial support to cover the full cost of caring for a child and we’re launching a fundamental review of fostering across the country, which will look at the issues affecting foster carers, including accountability and complaints.”
Foster carers are entitled to different weekly allowances for each child in their care, ranging from £123 for a baby outside of London to £216 for 16-year-olds in London, with further payments dependent on the circumstances. They are also entitled to tax exemptions and national insurance credits.