Fairway increases pay by 7.5% – 18% ahead of raise in April
We will be increasing our carers’ pay by 7.5%, 11% and 18% based on age this month, well ahead of the Government’s mandatory minimum wage increase in April.
Fairway already pays 3% more than the national minimum wage for our employees, it has been decided that we will further this increase for staff on our books by 7.5%, boosting pay from £9.05 to £9.75 an hour for national living wage. 18-20 year olds’ pay has also gone up 18% from £6.56 to £7.75 and 21-22 year olds’ will be paid £9.35 instead of the £8.36 an hour, an 11% growth.
This proactive decision demonstrates the appreciation that Fairway has for the nearly 300 carers in employment, during what has been an extremely difficult two years. The pay rise will mean that the average starting salary will be £20,280 per annum, based on a 40 hour work week.
Currently, Fairway covers 5,500 hours a week in the West Midlands, but needs to cover an extra 1,000 hours per week, which will require at least 40 new carers. To combat this need, Fairway has partnered with Embark Learning Care Academy to train new carers for their qualifications. While usually this would cost applicants £2,000 per person, it’s now completely free for the recruits and allows them to get all of their qualifications and into a job in just four weeks.
Operations Director, Alex O’Neill, commented: “In the last quarter, 73 members of staff joined Fairway, of which 80% successfully came through the Embark Learning Care Academy, adding 59 fully care certificated qualified health and social care professionals to our team and we’ll have another 120 by the end of the month, so we’re very excited with the rate of growth we’re experiencing.
“We’re thrilled that we can announce this new pay rise for our staff, they’ve been absolutely incredible during the COVID pandemic by looking after people’s loved ones when others couldn’t, and we hope that this will just go a small way to help them and show our gratitude. We’ve recently launched our #notjustacarer campaign, where we’re highlighting all of the extra things that carers do, they’re not ‘just’ a carer, they’re companionship for your loved ones, they’re the ones that people depend on and they truly make a difference in someone’s life.”