Care workers’ fair pay agreement: what it means for your pay and when
Talks are planned for 2027, a first agreement for 2028. Your employer must still pay what you are owed today.
A promise about 2028 will not pay for this week’s driving between care visits. England’s care fair pay agreement could set better pay and conditions across the sector, but no new rate has been agreed. Check what you are owed now. Travelling from one client’s door to the next already counts towards the minimum wage.
- £12.71
- hourly minimum for most workers aged 21+, April 2026
- Apr 2027
- planned start of negotiations, not a pay rise
- Apr 2028
- planned start of the first agreement
- £500m
- council funding, not a guaranteed wage increase
What to do this week
- Record your time. Note visits, travel between clients and time awake for work on sleep-ins. Ordinary journeys from home to the first visit and back from the last do not count towards the minimum wage.
- Save the evidence. Keep rotas, payslips and messages about hours somewhere you can access after leaving. Do not copy confidential care records.
- Check a pay period. For hourly-paid work, divide qualifying pay by counted hours. Use your age or apprentice rate. The driving example below shows the calculation.
- Ask for arrears or report it. Call Acas on 0300 123 1100 or use the pay and work rights complaint form. You do not have to confront a manager first. HMRC enforces the minimum wage on behalf of the Fair Work Agency.
If your visa is tied to your employer, get union or law centre advice before raising the issue or resigning. A minimum-wage report is separate from a tribunal claim. A grievance does not stop the tribunal clock. The government timetable records the extension of ordinary three-month tribunal limits to six months from 1 October 2026. Contact Acas promptly for early conciliation and a deadline calculation, especially for earlier deductions. See tribunal time limits.
UNISON, GMB and Unite organise care. Nursing staff can join the RCN. If a dispute has already started, ask what a new membership covers. Citizens Advice is free. Our union guide matches jobs to unions.
What you are owed now
The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 or over from 1 April 2026, unless the apprentice rate applies. These are the current statutory rates, not a new care-sector settlement.
| Age or category | Hourly minimum |
|---|---|
| 21 and over, outside the apprentice rate | £12.71 |
| 18 to 20, outside the apprentice rate | £10.85 |
| Under 18, and at least school leaving age | £8.00 |
| Apprentice under 19, or 19 and over in the first year | £8.00 |
An apprentice aged 19 or over who has finished the first year gets their age rate. Use the rate that applied to the pay period you are checking. Our minimum wage guide covers earlier rates.
At £12.71 for 35 counted hours, gross pay is 35 × £12.71 = £444.85 a week. For 52 paid weeks at that rate, £444.85 × 52 = £23,132.20 before tax. Your own total depends on your hours.
Travel between visits
Travel between care visits counts towards the minimum wage. A rate advertised for contact hours can disguise a lower rate once driving time is included. The minimum-wage test normally averages qualifying pay across a pay reference period, which cannot exceed a month. A higher contact rate can cover travel time within that period, but the average must meet your legal minimum. Your contract may require more. Work-related uniform or DBS charges can also reduce the pay that counts. See travel time and sleep-ins and underpayment.
Example: Denise’s unpaid driving
Denise is over 21, not an apprentice, and does homecare in England. She is paid weekly, with no other pay or deductions in this example. Her employer pays for 30 contact hours at £12.71, giving 30 × £12.71 = £381.30. She also spends five hours driving between clients. Her counted time is 35 hours.
The minimum is 35 × £12.71 = £444.85. The shortfall is £444.85 − £381.30 = £63.55. Her effective hourly rate is £381.30 ÷ 35 = £10.89, below the legal floor. This is underpayment even though her payslip lists £12.71 an hour.
We call that wage theft. A “contact time only” clause does not make minimum-wage underpayment lawful.
Sleep-ins
The Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake distinguishes a genuine sleep-in from a waking night. If you are expected to sleep for most or all of the shift and have suitable sleeping facilities, only time awake for the purpose of working counts towards the minimum wage. A waking night is different. Government guidance says persistent interruptions that leave little sleep possible can change the assessment. The label on the rota is not the whole test.
Example: a genuine sleep-in
A worker aged 21 or over, outside the apprentice rate, has suitable sleeping facilities and is expected to sleep most of a 10pm to 7am shift. It pays £45. One hour is spent awake for work. With no other hours or deductions in this example’s pay period, and all £45 counting as pay, that exceeds the £12.71 minimum for the counted hour.
£45 ÷ nine hours at the workplace = £5 an hour. That is not the legal test. We think it is poor pay for a night away from home. A contract promising more must still be honoured.
Statutory sick pay changed separately on 6 April 2026. For eligible employees, it is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness, with no lower earnings limit. That reform is in force. Our sick pay guide explains eligibility and payment.
What the agreement actually is
A fair pay agreement would set minimum pay and employment terms across the covered adult social care workforce in England. Part 3, Chapter 2 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 provides the framework. Section 39 allows ministers to establish a negotiating body by regulations.
The planned Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will have an independent chair and a civil-service secretariat. Under the July 2026 response, ministers will not conduct day-to-day bargaining. They will appoint members, set the maximum council funding through a remit letter and decide whether to approve the result. Unions and employers will negotiate within that funding limit.
Who is in the room
There will be equal numbers of worker and employer representatives. The TUC will co-ordinate the worker side, drawing on UNISON, GMB, Unite and the Royal College of Nursing. The Care Provider Alliance will co-ordinate employers. Councils will advise and provide evidence on affordability, but will not vote on agreements. The process must also consider the impact on people who pay for their own care.
What the body can negotiate
Section 41 covers remuneration and other employment terms. Regulations can add wider matters relating to employment. The government intends to include training, development and career progression, but inclusion in the remit does not guarantee an improvement in each negotiation round. The first agreement is intended to focus on pay and terms for implementation in 2028.
Better terms you already have stay protected
Once ratifying regulations take effect, pay must be determined and paid in line with the agreement. Other agreed employment terms become terms of covered workers’ contracts. Section 47(5) prevents the agreement from changing an existing term to your detriment and allows more favourable terms. If your contract already pays more than the new minimum, the agreement is not a reason to cut it.
If negotiations fail
Section 48 allows ministers to set terms by regulations if negotiations fail. It does not guarantee a settlement. The government plans six months of talks from April, with possible extension, then six months for implementation. Negotiations are expected to recur annually, subject to review. The terms only become binding when the relevant regulations take effect.
When any of this reaches your payslip
The government’s plan separates the creation of the body, the negotiations and the first agreement’s start date. Existing minimum-wage rights and any better contractual pay remain enforceable throughout.
- The Act received Royal Assent
The legal framework passed. No care-sector wage rate was set.
- Current minimum wage rates began
In force. £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 or over, unless the apprentice rate applies.
- Regulations to establish the body planned
Scheduled in the government roadmap, not an agreement or a pay rise.
- Independent chair planned
The chair and worker and employer representatives must be appointed before negotiations.
- First negotiations planned
The remit letter sets the funding limit. Talks concern the 2028 to 2029 financial year.
- First agreement planned to take effect
Not in force now. Terms must be settled and given legal effect by regulations. The £500 million funding commitment is for 2028 to 2029.
What £500 million does not mean
The July 2026 response commits £500 million for councils to cover increased costs from the first agreement in 2028 to 2029. It explicitly says the grant is not ring-fenced. Councils retain spending discretion. This is not £500 million divided automatically between care workers, and it is not a published wage rate.
Example: the scale of £500 million
The government cites a workforce of 1.5 million people. If every penny of £500 million became basic pay shared equally among all of them, £500 million ÷ 1.5 million = £333.33 per person for the year. At 35 hours a week for 52 weeks, £333.33 ÷ 52 ÷ 35 = about £0.183, or 18p an hour.
This is an illustration, not a forecast. The workforce total includes people excluded from the first agreement, hours differ, and higher wages bring costs such as employer National Insurance and pension contributions. The eventual distribution and rate remain to be negotiated. The calculation shows why a funding headline is not a payslip promise.
The government’s February 2026 factsheet reports median care-worker pay of £12 an hour in March 2025, just 56p above the minimum wage then. We want an agreement that rewards the work, not another rate barely above the legal floor.
Who is covered, and who is left out
Section 42 defines the English workforce as people employed wholly or mainly in, or in connection with, the provision of social care to adults aged 18 or over, so roles that support care, not only hands-on carers, can fall within it. It includes employees and other workers with a contract to perform work personally, often called “limb (b)” workers. A zero-hours, bank or agency contract does not by itself put you outside the definition. Children’s care in England is outside it.
| Your work or status | What the framework and government plan say |
|---|---|
| Employee or other qualifying worker in adult social care in England | Within scope, subject to the agreement’s coverage and any regulatory exclusions. No new terms apply yet. |
| Agency care worker | Section 51 brings qualifying agency workers within the framework. |
| Personal assistant employed directly by an adult receiving care | Can qualify as an employee or worker. Direct employment alone is not an exclusion. |
| Genuinely self-employed care worker or informal care arrangement outside the worker definition | Outside the framework. |
| Adult social care worker directly employed by the NHS or a council | The government plans initial exclusion, including those on Agenda for Change or National Joint Council terms. Review after three years of implemented agreements. |
| Unpaid carer or worker in children’s care in England | Outside this English agreement. |
Section 51 treats a qualifying agency worker who lacks a worker’s contract as having one with whichever of the agency or hirer pays them. Agency supply is not a general escape from the framework. See our agency workers’ guide for existing rights.
“Self-employed” on an invoice does not settle your legal status. If you have to do the work personally and the supposed client controls the visits and hours, get advice on whether you are really a worker. That can affect minimum-wage rights now and coverage under a future agreement. See false self-employment. The government’s promise to monitor the impact on genuinely self-employed carers does not give them coverage.
The NHS and council review is not a promise of inclusion. It comes after three years of implemented agreements, not three years after the Act passed. Mixed health and care roles need closer advice. Detailed coverage guidance will follow.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
This agreement is for England. Scottish and Welsh ministers have separate powers under the Act, which can cover adult and children’s social care. Northern Ireland is outside this framework. The National Minimum Wage still applies across the UK, including its travel-time and sleep-in rules.
From 1 April 2026, Scotland funds £13.45 an hour for eligible workers delivering direct adult social care in commissioned third-sector and independent services, where the employer has agreed the uplift with the local authority. It is a funding and commissioning arrangement, not a universal statutory wage floor. If you think you qualify but are not receiving it, ask your employer and the council’s commissioning team about the contract.
Wales consulted on its own negotiating body in early 2026, covering adult and children’s care. Neither Wales nor Scotland has a ratified agreement as at this guide’s cutoff. Do not apply the English timetable to a Welsh or Scottish payslip.
The English agreement gives no new right in Northern Ireland. For advice on existing pay rights and tribunal deadlines there, contact the Labour Relations Agency rather than Acas. See Northern Ireland employment differences.
How to have a say, and how the terms will be enforced
The Fair Work Agency, established on 7 April 2026, is intended to enforce a ratified agreement’s pay terms. Other agreed employment terms will take effect through workers’ contracts. The July response says the government will develop the detailed compliance and complaints arrangements before implementation. There is no agreement to enforce today, but existing underpayment can be reported now.
Contact your union branch with concrete priorities. Ask for clear travel-time pay, better sleep-in payments, or contractual sick pay above the statutory minimum. Ask how members can feed into the worker side’s negotiating position. An existing collective agreement may already provide better terms. A sector-wide minimum should build on those terms, not replace them with less.
Questions people ask
Will care workers get a pay rise in 2027?
No care-sector rise has been agreed through this process. Talks are planned to begin around April 2027, with a first agreement planned for April 2028. Changes to the National Living Wage are a separate annual process. Do not read the start of negotiations as a new rate your employer must pay.
Is union membership needed to be covered?
No. Coverage depends on your work, status and the applicable regulations, not membership. Joining a union gives you a route to press for the terms its representatives should seek. Ask about support for existing disputes before joining.
Are agency workers and personal assistants covered?
Qualifying agency workers are within the framework. A directly employed personal assistant can also qualify as an employee or worker. Genuinely self-employed carers and arrangements outside the worker definition are not covered. No agreement gives either group a new rate today.
Can the agreement cut existing pay or conditions?
Section 47(5) prevents a ratified agreement from changing an existing term to your detriment and permits better terms. It does not guarantee that an employer will never propose changes for other reasons. Get advice before signing a pay cut.
Sources
- Fair pay agreement process in adult social care: government response, Department of Health and Social Care, 16 July 2026. Negotiating process, initial exclusions, review point, £500 million funding and the absence of ring-fencing.
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update, government roadmap, updated 25 September 2026. Commencement timetable and the warning that future dates may change.
- Employment Rights Act 2025, Part 3, Chapter 2, legislation.gov.uk. See sections 39, 41, 42, 47, 48 and 51 for the body, remit, workforce definition, legal effect, better-term protection, deadlock powers and agency workers.
- Factsheet: social care negotiating bodies and fair pay agreements, Department of Health and Social Care, February 2026. Workforce size, union membership estimate and March 2025 median care-worker pay. For the later policy timetable, see the July response.
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, GOV.UK. Rates effective from 1 April 2026, also reproduced in the September naming publication below.
- Calculating the minimum wage: working hours, GOV.UK. Travel between clients, hourly-paid work calculations and sleep-in qualifications.
- Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, press summary, UK Supreme Court, 2021.
- Nearly 660 employers named for failing to pay the minimum wage, government and Fair Work Agency, 3 September 2026. Repayments, penalties, UK Care Team Ltd and Jigsaw Homecare Ltd entries, current wage rates and HMRC’s enforcement role.
- Pay and work rights complaints, GOV.UK. Complaint route for existing underpayment.
- Adult social care workers minimum pay, Scottish Government. Funded £13.45 rate from April 2026 and its commissioning conditions.
- Consultation on a Social Care Negotiating Body for Wales, Welsh Government.