Improved salary package in bid to recruit care workers

A Scottish charity is offering improved pay and benefits in a bid to encourage more people to consider social care as a career option.

Thistle, which support people with disabilities and long-term health conditions, employ around 400 staff at its supported living services in Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians.

It is offering a £500 welcome payment for new starts alongside improved starting pay of £10 an hour for personal assistants (PAs).

Pay for frontline social care workers at the charity now ranges from £10 to £11.10 an hour, alongside full training and a benefits package, and the £500 welcome payment for new employees.

While recruitment has been difficult within the social care sector for some time, it has become more challenging recently in the face of labour shortages across multiple sectors.

Mark Hoolahan, Thistle chief executive, said: “Supporting someone to live the life they want is a rewarding career and we are keen to attract great people to work in our friendly teams at Thistle.

“We introduced the welcome payment to capture people’s attention and to show that as an employer we value our employees’ contribution from the moment they join. Because we provide excellent training, people don’t need any previous experience of social care before joining us.

"It’s more important that people share our values and are committed to supporting people to live the life they choose. We have just introduced a pay increase for employees and offer a great range of benefits too.

“At Thistle, we see social care as a vocational career. Our employees bring a rich diversity of skills and life experiences to their roles and we hope that by introducing these changes, we will be able to attract more great people considering a life-affirming role supporting others.”

The charity hopes the pay increases - which are above the real living wage of £9.50 - will help attract those looking for a career change from other sectors.