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Travel time in Home Care: The Hidden Truth Behind Every Care Visit

  • Writer: Monica Bennett
    Monica Bennett
  • 22 hours ago
  • 29 min read
Care worker travelling between care visits
Care worker travelling between care visits

Introduction:

In this article, I will wear many hats and share my perspective as a care worker, care coordinator, supervisor, registered manager, company director, business owner and family member. Throughout my career, I have worked in each of these roles and, at times, I have had to perform several of them within the same hour.


I also write from a deeply personal perspective. A family member receives four home care visits a day due to Parkinson's disease, medication management, mobility support, falls prevention, daily exercises and personal care. Experiencing home care as a family member has given me another appreciation of the challenges carers face every day, and of how essential communication, planning and mutual understanding are in building a trusting relationship between families, care staff and providers.


This article explores what I believe is one of the biggest "elephant in the room" within domiciliary care. Although every care professional completes mandatory training on effective communication, we rarely have open conversations about the realities behind every care visit—particularly travel time, waiting time, contact time and the operational pressures that sit behind them.


This guide has been written for families, care workers, care providers and anyone interested in understanding how these often-overlooked elements influence not only staff wellbeing, but also business sustainability, legal compliance and, ultimately, the quality of care people receive.


It also explores when travel time counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes, when it does not, common areas of misunderstanding, practical considerations for providers, and how modern care technology, electronic rostering, payroll systems and AI-supported scheduling can help organisations deliver safer, fairer and more efficient home care services.


Please note that this is not intended to be a comprehensive guide covering every aspect of domiciliary care. The home care sector is complex, and many other legal, financial, operational and regulatory factors also influence the way services are delivered. My aim is simply to explore some of the most important issues surrounding travel time and the hidden realities behind every care visit, while signposting readers to trusted sources for further information.


While writing this article, I found it encouraging that many respected organisations are helping to raise awareness of these important issues. One example is the Surrey Care Association, of which I am proud to be a member, whose article on understanding pay in domiciliary care provides further useful guidance for both providers and care staff.

 

 

1.Homecare seen through a client and family`s eyes:

When people think about home care, they usually picture the time a carer spends inside someone's home. What matters most to them is that the carer arrives on time, stays for the agreed duration as set out in the care agreement, and that both the client and their family are happy with the service provided.


However, very few people stop to think about—or even know—everything that happens before the carer rings the doorbell. It is one of the least talked about aspects of domiciliary care, yet it plays a significant role in delivering safe, effective and compassionate care.


Every single day, before arriving at a client's home, a care worker may need to consider:

  • Travelling between clients' homes.

  • Assessing traffic conditions and, where necessary, planning alternative routes.

  • Finding suitable and safe parking.

  • Reading care plans, daily notes and any updates before entering the property.

  • Waiting between visits because of unavoidable gaps within the rota.

  • Planning when, where and how they will have a meal, while sometimes having to skip breaks because visits are scheduled back-to-back and traffic is unpredictable.

  • Managing their own family commitments, appointments or unexpected personal emergencies.

  • Responding to falls, medical emergencies, ambulance attendance or vehicle breakdowns.

  • Communicating with other healthcare professionals, including GPs, district nurses and therapists ,passing the feedback to the Office and updating daily notes.

  • Preparing mentally and practically for the next visit.

  • Thinking about their working hours, travel, rota changes and income, while also supporting their own families.

  • Coping with the physical and emotional demands of providing care, often under significant time pressures leading long term if not managed properly to burnout .


These responsibilities exist before the care visit has even begun. Yet all of these moments form part of delivering safe, compassionate and high-quality home care.

Much of this work is invisible to families, yet it is essential to every successful care visit.


        

 

2. Travelling time from a legal perspective

Across the UK, travel time has been one of the most widely discussed topics in domiciliary care for many years. It has been debated by Parliament, ACAS, the Home Care Association, UNISON, local authorities, employers and many other organisations because getting it wrong doesn't only affect care workers—it also affects the quality of care received by older people and vulnerable adults.


There is also an important legal aspect that both employers and care workers need to understand: when travel time and waiting time count as working time for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes, and how they should be calculated fairly.


Getting this wrong doesn't simply risk HMRC enforcement. It can also damage a company's reputation, undermine the quality of care it provides, reduce staff morale and retention, and in some cases lead to Employment Tribunal claims.


Understanding the legal framework is therefore not just about compliance—it's about protecting care workers, supporting providers and ensuring that people receiving care continue to receive safe, high-quality services.

Please see more about on HMRC, updated 07th April 2026 in this link : https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-minimum-wage-manual   

 


3.What is Travel Time in Home Care? 

Travel time usually refers to the time care workers spend travelling between client visits during their working day. As home care is typically delivered in relatively short visits (for example, 30–45 minutes or one hour), travelling can make up a significant proportion of a care worker's working day.

If this time is not accurately recorded, monitored and fairly paid where applicable, a worker's average hourly pay may fall below the National Minimum Wage once all working time has been taken into account.


Although travelling may appear to be simply moving from one client's home to another, it is, in reality, an essential part of delivering safe, reliable and person-centred home care.


Travel time may include, for example:

  • Travelling from one client's home to the next for scheduled visits.

  • Travelling between care calls when rotas change at short notice.

  • Travelling between different geographical areas as part of a planned route or regular round.

  • Travelling to attend assessments, reviews or appointments with clients.

  • Travelling to collect or deliver medication, equipment or documentation where required by the employer.

  • Travelling to mandatory meetings, supervision sessions or training requested by the company.

  • Travelling in response to emergency situations, such as falls, urgent welfare concerns or changes in a client's condition.

 


4.Is Travel Time always paid ? 

In many situations, yes. UK Government guidance makes it clear that time spent travelling between appointments during the working day usually counts as working time for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes.


However, this is also one of the areas that creates the greatest confusion for both care workers and employers. Not all travel time is treated in the same way, and understanding the difference is essential for ensuring legal compliance and fair pay.


In practice, this means:

- If a worker is paid by the hour, their total pay divided by their total working time (including eligible travel time between visits) must meet or exceed the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.

-  If a worker is paid per visit or by another method, the total pay received must still be sufficient so that, when spread across all working time (including eligible travel time), it does not fall below the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. However, not all travel time is treated in the same way.


 For example, if a worker is employed on contracted hours, such as 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., any travel undertaken during those contracted working hours is generally already included within their paid working day. In these circumstances, the worker would usually receive mileage reimbursement (where applicable), but not separate travel time or waiting time payments, as these are already covered by their contracted working hours.

 


5.What Travel Time DOES NOT Count as Working Time? 

It is equally important to understand that not all travel is treated in the same way.


According to ACAS guidance, if a worker has a fixed place of work (such as an office they attend every day), their normal journey from home to work and from work back home does not usually count as working time. However, employers may choose to count and pay this travel time if they wish.


In domiciliary care, some types of travel or non-working periods generally do not count towards National Minimum Wage (NMW) working time, including:

  • Travelling from home to the first visit of the day – for example, leaving home and travelling to the first client's address. This is generally regarded as normal commuting.

  • Travelling from the final visit back home – for example, travelling from the last client's home back to the worker's own home. This is also generally regarded as normal commuting.

  • Genuine unpaid breaks, where the worker is completely free to use their time as they wish.

  • Long breaks between visits, where the worker is not required to remain available for work and has sufficient time to use the break for their own purposes. Depending on the circumstances, this period may not count as working time.


By comparison, travel that takes place during the working day will usually count as working time. Examples include:

  • Travelling from one client to the next.

  • Travelling from the office to a client's home.

  • Travelling from the office to meetings, assessments, reviews or other work-related appointments.


As with many aspects of employment law, every situation should be considered in the context of the worker's employment contract, working arrangements and the latest Government and ACAS guidance.

ACAS also recognises that some workers do not have a fixed place of work. These are known as peripatetic workers and include occupations such as care workers, travelling teachers, plumbers and travelling salespeople.


Because these workers carry out their duties across multiple locations, travel between home and work may count as working time in certain circumstances, particularly where the employer can change schedules, allocate additional visits or direct work while the employee is travelling.


This demonstrates why travel time in domiciliary care is not always straightforward and why every situation should be considered alongside the worker's contract, working arrangements and current Government and ACAS guidance. This is one of the reasons why many care workers remain confused about their rights, and why employers must ensure they understand both the legal framework and the specific contractual arrangements that apply within their own organisation.

 Even ACAS recognises that different rules apply depending on the type of work and employment arrangements. See ACAS  link : https://www.acas.org.uk/working-time-rules/working-time-for-someone-who-travels-for-their-job

 


6. Waiting Time

Waiting time is another area that can become surprisingly complex within domiciliary care. Situations that commonly create uncertainty include:

  • Breaks between care visits that are very short.

  • Workers who are expected to remain available, on call or within a reasonable distance of their next client.

  • Uncertainty about whether a period should be treated as a genuine break or as waiting time.


Because the rules can be nuanced and depend on the individual circumstances, providers should always refer to the latest Government and ACAS guidance and seek professional advice where appropriate.


In reality, many domiciliary care workers may have only 30 or 45 minutes between scheduled visits. In most cases, this is not enough time to travel home, have a meaningful break and return to the next client. Instead, they often remain in their local area, waiting for the next call while ensuring they are available to arrive on time.


There are also many situations where timing is critical. Some clients require medication at strict times, support with meals, assistance to attend medical appointments or time-sensitive personal care. Employers therefore need staff to be close by and ready to attend the next visit promptly. Delays can affect medication schedules, appointments, client wellbeing and may understandably lead to concerns from clients or their families.


If a care worker is expected to remain available for work and cannot realistically use that time as their own, should that period be considered a genuine break, or is it part of the working day? This is one of the realities of domiciliary care that is rarely discussed openly.


If a provider expects a member of staff to remain available and ready for the next client, that member of staff should not be expected to do so without appropriate consideration. However, this also creates a significant challenge for providers because, in many cases, no client is paying for that waiting period.

The care worker is available for work, the provider is responsible for paying the member of staff, yet there is often no funding attached to that time. It becomes another operational cost that providers must absorb while continuing to deliver safe, reliable and person-centred care.


Some providers choose to pay a higher hourly rate rather than paying waiting time separately. In those cases, it is important that the worker's total pay across all working time remains compliant with National Minimum Wage legislation.


This is one of the many hidden costs of home care that families rarely see, yet providers manage every single day.

See ACAS  link “Working time regulations”: https://www.acas.org.uk/working-time-rules 

Please see Delineation of travel tine and care time article link : https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2017/1264/regulation/41/made/data.html

 


7. How Do We Calculate Travel Time Pay in Home Care?

Providers must be able to demonstrate that, overall, workers receive at least the applicable National Minimum Wage (NMW) or National Living Wage (NLW) for every hour of working time, including eligible travel time.


To demonstrate compliance, employers should keep accurate records of working time, including contact time, eligible travel time, waiting time where applicable, mandatory training, meetings and any other paid work activities. These records should be supported by rotas, electronic call monitoring (ECM), digital care management systems, timesheets and payroll records. By comparing the total hours worked against the total pay received during the pay period, providers can demonstrate that each worker has received at least the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for all qualifying working time.


A simple approach is to calculate the total working time and total pay for each pay period.

1. Calculate the total working time

Add together all hours spent:

  • Delivering care visits.

  • Travelling between eligible visits.

  • Attending mandatory training.

  • Attending meetings, supervisions and appraisals.

  • Completing care records and other work duties undertaken during working time.


2. Calculate the total pay for the pay period

Include:

  • Basic pay.

  • Travel pay (where applicable).

  • Enhancements.

  • Any other payments that count towards National Minimum Wage calculations.


3. Check compliance

Divide the total pay by the total working hours.

The result must be at or above the applicable National Minimum Wage (NMW) or National Living Wage (NLW).

A simple example is shown below.

 

 

8. How Much Could a Care Worker Lose?

Let's look at a simple example.

Imagine a full-time care worker who delivers 40 hours of direct care every week.

Between those visits, they spend an average of 12 hours travelling, finding parking, preparing for their next client and waiting between scheduled calls.


Their total working week is therefore 52 hours, yet they are only paid for 40 hours.

If those additional 12 hours were paid at the current National Living Wage of £12.71 per hour, this would represent approximately:

  • £152.52 every week

  • £660 every month

  • Almost £8,000 every year


Please note: The figures below are provided for illustrative purposes only. Every care company operates differently, and travel or waiting time may increase or decrease depending on location, traffic, the number of clients, the geographical area covered, rota efficiency and many other operational factors.


Ø  See real case Polly`s story on BBC , see link : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gpy2x99g1o


Ø  The sad things is that some employees are not aware of their rights. Below its the testimony of a domiciliary care worker who said they had never been paid for travel time throughout their career in home care.  See link :


Ø  The issue is not only reflected in legislation and official guidance—it is also being discussed daily by care workers themselves. The example below, shared by a home care worker, illustrates the concerns many have about unpaid travel time and understanding how they are paid:

"I started my job as a home carer two weeks ago. I had no idea we didn't get paid for travel time. No one told me this and it isn't stated in my contract. I work from 3:45 pm to 10:00 pm but only get paid for four hours because that's how long my visits add up to. I'm a walker, some of my visits are over a mile apart and I have eight visits during that shift. Is it worth it?"    See link : https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4695385-unpaid-travel-time 


Ø  The confusion surrounding travel time extends far beyond home care. A recent Reddit discussion involving a registered nurse generated a lengthy debate, with healthcare professionals expressing conflicting views on when travel time should be paid and how the rules should be interpreted. See link below :


Ø  An employment solicitor on JustAnswer reached the same conclusion as HMRC and ACAS: travel between clients during the working day generally counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes, whereas travel from home to the first client and from the last client back home is normally treated as ordinary commuting. See the discussion in below link :


Ø  In a recent Employment Tribunal decision 9 homecare workers were awarded almost £70,000 in back pay because they hadn’t received the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for travel time and waiting time between care appointments. Since this decision, the trade union Unison has launched a campaign calling on homecare workers to claim payments for travel and waiting time. See article link  below :



 9. The cost of a carer:

One of the greatest challenges facing home care providers is that many state-funded care packages are commissioned at rates significantly below the actual cost of delivering safe, regulated care.

According to the Homecare Association's 2025–26 report, the average local authority fee rate in England is £24.10 per hour, while the calculated minimum sustainable price for delivering compliant, high-quality home care is £32.14 per hour. This funding gap places considerable pressure on providers, who must still meet their legal obligations, pay staff fairly, invest in training, maintain digital care systems, comply with CQC regulations and continue delivering safe, person-centred care. See Homecare Association link for full details : https://share.google/Twswss7JOxM0gQQZd 

 

For example, if a care worker is paid the current National Living Wage of £12.71 per hour, every minute of travel or waiting time also has a cost.


If a care worker provides a one-hour care visit and spends one hour travelling in connection with that visit, the provider has already incurred £25.42 in basic wages alone. This is why efficient coordination, effective rota planning and good care management systems are so important.

And this is only the care worker's basic wage. It does not include mileage, fuel, training, meetings, supervisions, DBS checks, insurance, digital care systems, care planning, payroll, compliance or many of the other costs involved in delivering safe, high-quality home care.


For example, creating a comprehensive person-centred care plan can sometimes take up to three days, depending on the complexity of the person's needs. This is another essential part of delivering safe, individualised care, yet it is organised and funded by the provider rather than charged as a separate cost to the client.


I would highly recommend reading Tim Dallinger's article links below, which explains the importance of comprehensive care planning and the level of detail that good daily care records should contain.


When families understand the true cost of delivering one safe, well-coordinated care visit, they also begin to understand why good home care is about much more than the time spent inside the client's home.


Local authority fees vary across the country, but in many areas the hourly rates paid for domiciliary care are significantly lower than the true cost of delivering high-quality care (see Homecare Association 2025-2026 report link:


If a provider chooses to pay travel time, waiting time, training, supervision and invest in staff development and digital systems, an important question arises:

Who pays for those additional costs?


If a service delivers a high proportion of local authority-funded care packages, while also investing heavily in its workforce, maintaining financial sustainability can become increasingly challenging.

At the same time, many care workers understandably look for employers who advertise higher hourly rates. However, the advertised hourly rate does not always reflect what a worker actually earns across their entire working day. If travel or waiting time is not paid separately where appropriate, the effective hourly pay may be significantly lower once all working time has been taken into account.


To increase their earnings, many carers choose to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays, often sacrificing valuable time with their own families. Despite this, many still receive no separate payment for travel or waiting time. It is therefore important for care workers to understand not only the hourly rate being advertised, but also what is actually paid throughout the working day.



When Funding Is No Longer Sustainable

·       The financial pressures faced by home care providers are not simply theoretical. Across the UK, some providers have been forced to hand back local authority contracts because the fees paid were no longer sufficient to cover the true cost of delivering safe, regulated care. In some cases, organisations reported subsidising publicly funded care from their own resources until this became financially unsustainable. These examples illustrate the difficult balance providers face between supporting their workforce, maintaining high-quality care and remaining financially viable. See relevant links about handing back local authority contracts below :


·       The wider challenges facing adult social care have also been recognised by the House of Lords. In a 2024 briefing for a debate on the future of social care in England, Parliament highlighted chronic underfunding, workforce vacancies, rising demand and the lack of a long-term funding settlement as some of the sector's biggest challenges. The briefing also noted that low pay and workforce shortages continue to contribute to high turnover across adult social care. See full info in link below:


Ø  The King's Fund has also identified workforce pay, market fragility and the funding of adult social care as some of the key challenges facing the sector. Its analysis concludes that provider costs continue to rise faster than local authority fees, placing increasing pressure on providers to remain financially sustainable while delivering high-quality care. The report also highlights that improving pay, workforce conditions and funding are essential to the future of adult social care. Please see The King's Fund report below for further information. See link below :

 


10. Contact Time

Contact time is the time a care worker spends inside a client's home. Clients and their families naturally expect that, if they have booked a 30-minute visit, the care worker will spend the full 30 minutes providing care and support. However, the reality is often more complex.


During that visit, the care worker is also expected to access the care management system, record accurate daily notes, document meals, hydration, medication, mobility, wellbeing, appointments and any changes in the client's condition. They may also need to contact the office, report medication concerns, provide feedback to healthcare professionals or leave detailed handover notes for the next care worker.


All of this takes time.

Yet the scheduled travel time between Client A and Client B may have been calculated on the assumption of a 15-minute drive. If a care worker spends 10–15 minutes completing accurate records after leaving the client's home, that documentation time can immediately reduce the time available to travel safely to the next visit.


Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to poor-quality records consisting of only a few words, such as "Care given."


However, high-quality documentation is a fundamental part of safe care, continuity of care and CQC compliance. Good daily records help protect clients, support staff, inform other professionals and provide evidence of the care that has been delivered.


Tim Dallinger has written extensively about this subject, including CQC inspection findings where audits identified poor-quality daily records. I highly recommend reading the article in the link below, which demonstrates the level of detail that good care notes should contain.


This also raises another important question:

Who ultimately funds the 10–15 minutes required to produce accurate daily records?

Is it included within the client's contact time, or is it a cost that the provider absorbs because the member of staff has been working for both the client and the organisation?


This is one of the hidden operational challenges of domiciliary care.


Care workers are under constant pressure. They want to meet the client's needs, provide compassionate care, complete accurate records, communicate important information, remain on schedule and avoid arriving late for the next visit.



When rotas are unrealistic, the temptation is to recover those lost minutes by shortening the care visit, completing documentation while carrying out care tasks or rushing to the next client.

None of these options are ideal.


They increase pressure on care workers and, if they become routine, may ultimately affect the quality, safety and continuity of care.

 


11.Common Challenges Around Travel Time

Home care providers can encounter a number of challenges when travel time is not effectively planned, monitored or managed. Common issues include:

  • Only contact time is counted. Travel time is ignored when checking National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and designing rotas, meaning a care worker's effective hourly pay across all working time may fall below the legal minimum.

  • Unrealistic rotas. Schedules do not allow sufficient time to travel safely between visits, leading to increased stress, rushed care and unpaid additional working time.

  • Travel time is paid differently but not monitored. Some providers pay a lower rate for travel time, or only pay for part of the journey, without checking whether the worker's total pay across all working time still complies with National Minimum Wage requirements.

  • Incomplete record keeping. If accurate records of travel time, visit times and breaks are not maintained, it becomes much more difficult to demonstrate compliance during an HMRC investigation. Time and attendance systems, digital rostering and payroll software can help providers monitor travel time more accurately, identify potential issues and make appropriate adjustments to rotas and pay calculations.

  • Too many tasks allocated for the time available. One of the biggest challenges in domiciliary care is balancing the number of tasks expected during a visit with the actual time allocated to complete them safely and compassionately.

 

As far back as 2013, Andrew George MP highlighted this concern during a Parliamentary debate, recommending:

"There should be a minimum visit time of 45 minutes in very exceptional cases, and at least an hour for most visits, especially if it involves at least two of the following procedures for non-ambulant or semi-ambulant clients: getting out of bed; dressing or undressing; toileting; feeding; washing and mobility support."


Many other important issues affecting domiciliary care were also discussed during that Parliamentary debate, and I would encourage readers to explore the full discussion using the link below.


Local authority funding. One of the long-standing challenges facing the social care sector is that many providers believe local authority fees do not fully reflect the true cost of delivering high-quality home care. As a result, providers are often required to balance rising employment and operational costs while continuing to deliver safe, person-centred services.


For many providers, private self-funded care packages help support the long-term sustainability of the business. Care companies also aim to organise visits geographically, where possible, to reduce unnecessary travel time, improve efficiency and minimise the hidden costs associated with travel and waiting time.


Ø  For readers who would like to learn more about local authority funding, financial assessments, personal budgets, direct payments and the process of arranging home care, I recommend the Homecare.co.uk  , NHS  and Age Uk guide below. It provides clear, practical information to help individuals and families better understand the social care funding system.

 

Ø  See Homecare Association full report 2025-2026:



For readers who would like to compare the cost of receiving care at home with moving into a residential care home, this independent guide from carehome.co.uk explains average care home fees and funding options.

 



12. What Happens if Travel or Waiting Time Is Not Paid Correctly?

HMRC has the authority to investigate employers and enforce National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance. If care workers believe they have been underpaid because travel or waiting time has not been correctly recognised or calculated, they may raise a complaint.


Where underpayment is identified, HMRC may require employers to:

  • Repay wage arrears to affected employees.

  • Pay financial penalties.

  • In certain circumstances, be publicly named for failing to comply with National Minimum Wage legislation.


Beyond the financial consequences, non-compliance may also:

  • Raise concerns during CQC inspections, particularly around leadership, governance, workforce management and regulatory compliance.

  • Damage a provider's reputation with both current and prospective employees.

  • Make recruitment and staff retention even more challenging in an already competitive labour market.

  • Affect staff morale, trust and long-term workforce stability.


For home care providers, whose reputation is built on trust, quality and strong relationships with both staff and families, the consequences can be significant.

For further information about travel time and workers' rights, please also see the UNISON guidance in below link :

 


13. How Different Providers Pay Their Care Workers

Most home care providers aim to offer competitive hourly rates to attract and retain care workers. However, the way care workers are paid can vary considerably between providers.


Some organisations choose to pay a higher hourly rate but do not pay travel or waiting time separately. If travel and waiting time are not correctly recognised and included when calculating National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance, a worker's effective hourly pay across their entire working day may fall below the legal minimum.


This can happen for a number of reasons, including:

  • Limited or inaccurate digital rostering and payroll systems.

  • Not making full use of the technology available.

  • Insufficient time or resources to monitor travel time, waiting time and documentation accurately.

  • Poor recording of daily care notes, travel time and waiting time, making it difficult to calculate actual working time correctly.


    Example

    A care worker is paid £15.00 per hour and completes six one-hour care visits. If they spend just 15 minutes travelling between each client, they will add 1 hour and 15 minutes of travel to their working day.

    • Paid hours: 6

    • Total pay: £90

    • Total working time: 7 hours 15 minutes

    Although the advertised pay is £15.00 per hour, the effective hourly rate falls to approximately £12.41 per hour, which is below the current National Living Wage (£12.71).

    It is also important to remember that these 15 minutes often include much more than driving. Care workers frequently use this time to complete daily care records, notify the office of changes, read the next client's care plan or communicate with other professionals. Unless sufficient time is built into the rota, these essential tasks may only be completed by reducing time spent with the client or placing additional pressure on the care worker.


Technology has developed significantly over recent years, and many modern care management systems now provide much more accurate monitoring of travel time, visit durations, electronic care records and payroll calculations. Tim Dallinger has written extensively about the importance of digital care records, meaningful daily notes and using technology effectively to improve both care quality and regulatory compliance. I highly recommend reading the articles linked below.


Ø  As far back as 2014, Care Services Minister Norman Lamb MP described the failure to pay care workers for travel time between visits, where legally required, as "not acceptable" and stated that where it resulted in workers receiving less than the National Minimum Wage, it could amount to a criminal offence. Please see the link below.

 

Ø  Bogus Practices: Employers in the social care sector have historically bypassed UK Parliament minimum wage laws by paying only for the "contact time" spent inside a client's home, often using zero-hours contracts UK Parliament to avoid travel compensation John Robertson in the Chair — Care Workers: 5 Nov 2014. [1, 2]. See link below :


Ø  Homecare Association article dated 2014  about travel time , pay per hour, etc which I found it very interesting . See link below :  

 

Ø  Another article From Homecare Voices dated 2025: In 2025, 72% of over 500 domiciliary care workers we asked said they were only paid for the time they spend at care visits. Yet some or all of the gaps between scheduled care visits counts as payable working time. This means that our true hourly rate of pay once all working time is considered is often lower than the rate stated on ours contracts of employment.


Compliant employers top-up wages when they run payroll so that each worker’s pay meets the National Minimum Wage. Misleadingly high rates of pay in domiciliary care are an issue in their own right which we are doing our best to address. Non-compliant employers illegally underpay the National Minimum Wage. See article in link below:


Ø  Rhoddium accounts states the same like Homecare Voices that 75% of care staff are not id fore their travelling time . See full info in link below :

 

I have intentionally added links dated 13-14 years ago to highlight an obvious national constant problem affecting companies, care staff and clients equally.


2026 Stage :

Ø  The irony is that we are now in 2026, yet we are still facing many of the same challenges discussed more than a decade ago. Please also see the Low Income Tax Reform Group article in below link :


Ø  The Homecare Association's 2025–2026 report demonstrates that many of the concerns raised over a decade ago remain unresolved. The report states that the average local authority fee rate in England is £24.10 per hour, compared with a calculated Minimum Price for Homecare of £32.14 per hour required to deliver safe, regulated and sustainable home care services. It also confirms that employment costs include all working time, including travel, together with statutory employment costs, training, supervision, digital care systems, insurance, regulatory fees and other essential operational costs. The report concludes that, without adequate funding and improved commissioning, providers will continue to face significant challenges in delivering high-quality home care while remaining financially sustainable. Please see the Homecare Association report link below for further information. https://share.google/Twswss7JOxM0gQQZd 



14. How Digital Technology Can Help

Travel time and National Minimum Wage compliance are complex issues for every home care provider. However, modern care management technology can significantly improve planning, monitoring and compliance while supporting both care workers and the people they care for.


Some of the ways digital systems can help include:

  • Smarter rota planning and route optimisation by creating realistic schedules and reducing unnecessary travel between visits.

  • More accurate recording of visit and travel time through Electronic Call Monitoring (ECM), mobile applications and digital care management systems.

  • Postcode-to-postcode journey planning to estimate realistic travel times and identify potential delays.

  • GPS technology (where appropriate, lawful and GDPR compliant) to improve journey planning and monitor travel patterns.

  • Automatic National Minimum Wage compliance checks by comparing total working time, including eligible travel and waiting time, with the worker's pay.

  • Improved payroll accuracy, ensuring travel time, waiting time and contact time are correctly recorded where applicable.

  • Better quality assurance, allowing providers to monitor visits, identify trends and continuously improve the service.

  • Enhanced communication between care workers, coordinators, managers and office staff, helping services respond more effectively to unexpected events such as traffic delays, emergencies or changes in clients' needs.


Technology should never replace compassionate care. However, when used effectively, it enables providers to plan more efficiently, support their workforce, remain compliant and spend more time focusing on what matters most—delivering safe, person-centred care.


To help ensure compliance:

  • First and foremost, learn how to use your care management system properly. Regardless of which system a provider uses, it is only effective if staff understand how to use it correctly. Many providers invest in excellent software but do not make full use of its features, leaving valuable tools for monitoring travel time, waiting time, documentation and payroll compliance underutilised.

  • Integrate scheduling and payroll so you can monitor effective hourly pay across all working time, including eligible travel and waiting time.

  • Run exception reports to identify care workers who may be at risk of falling below the National Minimum Wage.

  • Maintain clear audit trails and generate reports for HMRC, commissioners and regulators demonstrating how working time, travel time and pay are calculated.

  • Promote fairness and workforce wellbeing by proactively monitoring workloads, travel times and rota efficiency.

  • Hold regular team meetings, supervisions and one-to-one discussions to ensure electronic records accurately reflect what happens in practice and to identify any concerns early. Care workers should never feel pressured to rush between visits, shorten care calls or compromise the quality of care because of unrealistic rotas.

 

 

15. Why Should Families Care?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am now writing from the perspective of a family member.


When families compare home care providers, they often focus on hourly rates, availability or the range of services offered. Few ask equally important questions:

  • How are your care workers treated?

  • How do they feel?

  • Are they supported and valued?

  • How is their wellbeing and mental health protected?


The answers to these questions can have a direct impact on the quality, continuity and consistency of care your loved one receives.


A home care visit does not begin when a care worker rings the doorbell. Before arriving, they may already have travelled between several clients, found parking, managed heavy traffic, reviewed care plans, prepared for the visit ahead and responded to unexpected situations.


If insufficient travel time is built into the rota, care workers can find themselves under unnecessary pressure to reach the next client on time. In the worst cases, they may feel forced to shorten a visit, not because they want to, but because another client may be waiting for essential support, medication, personal care or assistance with meals.


There are also occasions when, despite careful planning, heavy traffic, road closures, accidents or emergencies make it impossible to arrive exactly on time. These delays can affect not only one visit but the rest of the day's schedule.


Realistic travel time allows care workers to:

  • Drive safely and responsibly.

  • Arrive calm, prepared and focused.

  • Review care plans before entering the client's home.

  • Complete documentation accurately.

  • Spend meaningful, unhurried time with the person receiving care.


When travel time is not planned or recognised properly, everyone feels the impact. Care workers experience increased pressure and fatigue, clients may receive shorter or more hurried visits, and providers face greater challenges in maintaining continuity of care. Over time, this can contribute to higher staff turnover, meaning families are less likely to see the same familiar faces supporting their loved ones.


Quality home care is about much more than the time spent inside a person's home. It is built on careful planning, realistic scheduling, effective communication and recognising the full journey involved in delivering safe, compassionate and person-centred care.


Because when we look after the wellbeing of our care workers, we are also protecting the wellbeing of the people they care for.


 

16. Travel time: a debate that has continued for over a decade through National Petitions... but Where Is Everyone?


Concerns about travel time are not new. Over the past decade, several petitions have called for changes to the way travel time is recognised and paid. While some petitions were rejected on procedural grounds, others have continued to raise awareness of the issue, demonstrating that travel time remains one of the most debated topics within the home care sector. In March  2026, however, a new petition on the same issue was accepted, demonstrating that concerns about travel time, fair pay and workforce sustainability continue to be raised across the sector more than a decade later.


Please 3rd  May 2017 rejected Petition link: https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/173458

Please 23th March 2023 rejected Petition link: https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/635273#action

Please see the 2026 petition  link :https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/758852#action 


At the time of writing this article, despite the scale of the issue affecting care workers, providers and the people receiving care, even 2026 petition has attracted surprisingly few signatures.


This raises several important questions:

  • Has the issue been communicated clearly enough to the public?

  • Are care workers fully aware of their rights?

  • Should providers be more open and transparent about how travel time and waiting time are managed?

  • Does the current funding of adult social care allow providers to meet these expectations sustainably?

  • Should greater investment be made in health and social care to better support both care workers and the people who depend on their services?


After reviewing more than a decade of reports, Parliamentary debates and guidance from national organisations while researching this article, one question remains:

If we all recognise there is a national challenge, what are we doing collectively to solve it?

 

 

             Our Approach at Bennett Care Hampshire


At Bennett Care Hampshire, we believe that valuing our care workers is one of the most important ways of delivering the high-quality care our clients deserve. Our Mission, Vision and Culture are built around one simple belief:


"You have the power to make someone's day. Use it."


These are not just words on our website—they guide every decision we make, every policy we write and every relationship we build.


From the very beginning, we made a conscious decision to recognise travel time and waiting time as an important part of delivering safe and compassionate care. Wherever applicable, we pay our care workers for travel time, contribute towards travel costs, pay waiting time and build realistic rotas. We also pay our staff for mandatory training, meetings, supervisions and any activities requested by the company.


We are also open and transparent about the realities of home care. We discuss the costs of care, the challenges of delivering high-quality services and the unforeseen situations that can arise. These principles are reflected throughout our staff contracts, staff handbook, Service User Guide and client agreements because we believe that honesty builds trust.


Running a home care service is not without challenges. Profit margins can be extremely tight and there are times when difficult decisions have to be made to remain sustainable. However, our guiding principle remains unchanged:


"You have the power to make someone's day. Use it."


Nothing is more rewarding than knowing our clients feel safe, respected and supported, while our care workers know they are valued and paid fairly for the work they do.


Our care workers are the foundation of our service. Every day they face significant responsibilities and pressures. They continuously undertake training, keep their knowledge up to date, work within company policies and procedures, adapt to changing clients' needs, manage heavy traffic, respond to emergencies and often work long days where finding enough time for proper nutrition, hydration or rest can be challenging. Despite these pressures, they are expected to deliver safe, compassionate and person-centred care to every individual they support.


We firmly believe that if we expect care workers to provide exceptional care, we must also value the work they do. Fair pay, recognising travel time where applicable, ongoing support and realistic rotas all contribute to staff wellbeing, job satisfaction and long-term retention.


During the recruitment process for Bennett Care Hampshire, I interviewed more than 30 experienced care workers. Although each person's experience was different, one theme came up repeatedly: many told me they had never been paid for travel time, while others felt their overall pay was very low once travel and waiting time were taken into account.

 

If care workers are expected to rush from one visit to another, the people receiving care will inevitably feel the impact.

  • Safe driving takes time.

  • Finding parking takes time.

  • Reading care plans takes time.

  • Preparing equipment and washing hands takes time.

  • Completing accurate documentation takes time.

  • Providing compassionate, person-centred care takes time.

When rotas are realistic, everyone benefits.


Home care is also unpredictable. A client may fall, become suddenly unwell or require an ambulance. A care worker may need to remain with that person for much longer than planned. As a result, rotas have to be reorganised, other visits redistributed and families contacted. These are situations that no provider can fully control, but they can be prepared for through good leadership, clear communication and robust contingency planning.


Perhaps this is the unseen side of compassion that many families never have the opportunity to see.

Behind every smile, every reassuring conversation and every compassionate care visit is an enormous amount of unseen work carried out by care workers, office staff, coordinators, supervisors and managers. Together, they plan rotas, respond to emergencies, complete risk assessments, update care plans, arrange training, answer calls from families, support one another and constantly adapt to unexpected situations so that care continues safely every single day.


Behind every successful care visit is far more than the time spent inside a client's home. There are care plans to prepare, rotas to coordinate, risk assessments to review, staff meetings, training sessions, emails, quality audits, supervision, emergency planning and countless other tasks that make safe, high-quality care possible.


Our role is to ensure that, whatever happens during the day, our care workers feel supported, our systems remain organised and, most importantly, our clients continue to receive safe, compassionate and person-centred care.


If you are happy with the care your loved one receives, never underestimate the value of saying "thank you". A few kind words, a positive email, a compliment to the office or a good review can mean more to a care worker than many people realise. It reminds them that the long days, the difficult journeys, the emotional challenges and the unseen efforts behind every visit truly make a difference.

At Bennett Care Hampshire, caring for our care workers is one of the ways we care for our clients.

 

Further Reading

For readers who would like to explore the legal and practical aspects of employing care workers in more detail, I recommend the following resources:

Ø  GOV.UK – Employing People and National Minimum Wage Guidance. A practical guide covering employers' responsibilities, including National Minimum Wage requirements and different types of work.

 

Ø  Rhodium Accounting – Employer Obligations for Domiciliary Care Providers . An informative article explaining employers' responsibilities regarding travel time, National Minimum Wage compliance and payroll within the home care sector



Care home costs: If you're comparing the cost of receiving care at home with moving into a residential care home, this independent guide from carehome.co.uk explains average care home fees and funding options.






 
 
 

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