social care worker wages????

all_smilz

I am an out of work Nurse and applied for a job as a social care worker, I have been offered the position.
I checked out the wages and they can vary a fair bit, I consider myself to be experience, qualified and i'd be doing split shift work from 4 pm till 11 am the next day and sleeping on call over night.

would anyone know what i'd be earning?

thanks

Blonde27

Hi There

My sister is a Social Care Worker and she earns about 17 euro per hour. She gets an allowance for when she does a sleepover but she doesnt have to stay awake all night!! There is savage money in it with Double time on Sundays also. The hours are unsociable but the rewards are good

mood

I know girls who are nurses and some who are social care workers. They are very different roles!!! I hope you find the position suits you.

all_smilz

thanks for getting back to me. Can I ask is she a qualified social care worker? I am not (am a nurse)...

all_smilz

mood wrote: »

I know girls who are nurses and some who are social care workers. They are very different roles!!! I hope you find the position suits you.

well I am not your average nurse (I like to think I am nicer) and this social care work position is with disabled adults so some of the work would be quite similar, I am sure it will be a challenge though.

mood

I didn't explain that very well!

I know a number of social care workers (degrees in social studies) and a number of nurses. They all work in the area they studied and didn't cross over. I'm just saying social care work is totally different from nursing. Do you know any social care workers?

Considering it is working with disabled adults it is not so different after all.

all_smilz

mood wrote: »

I didn't explain that very well!

I know a number of social care workers (degrees in social studies) and a number of nurses. They all work in the area they studied and didn't cross over. I'm just saying social care work is totally different from nursing. Do you know any social care workers?

Considering it is working with disabled adults it is not so different after all.

Yes, I am living with a social care worker but I dont like asking people what they earn outright and she was encouraging me to go for the job, I have more non nursing experience that has helped me during the interview process- I ran a B & B and worked in a constituency office, so I think I have a broad range of skills.

I am aware of a range of pay scales depending on qualifications and experience and position and am just concerned that I will be agreeing to work in a job that does not pay well. Its not all about the money but I DO have a mortgage.

thanks for your input!

Blonde27

Hi Alls Smilz, she has a degree in Social Care Studies so if thats what you are looking for. She loves it, working with people with intellectual dissabilities. Shes been earning more money than me since she left college two years ago!!

all_smilz

I am hoping they will see my experience and my qualifications and pay me accordingly....

rinty

The money is really crap as a social care worker especially over the last year.No overtime,sleepovers,split shifts. a sleep over pays about 30 euros after tax. So for 3 sleepovers you get about 60 euros for 26hrs. Most people sleep for about half the night and some get no sleep.Dont even mention the weekend shifts.
To put it all in context.for the hours you are away from home,it works out about 10.50 an hour,,17 euro my arse

iPac

rinty wrote: »

The money is really crap as a social care worker especially over the last year.No overtime,sleepovers,split shifts. a sleep over pays about 30 euros after tax. So for 3 sleepovers you get about 60 euros for 26hrs. Most people sleep for about half the night and some get no sleep.Dont even mention the weekend shifts.
To put it all in context.for the hours you are away from home,it works out about 10.50 an hour,,17 euro my arse

Actually Social Care Practitioners earn quite a decent salary dependant on the field they work in, their qualification and their experience. In my previous post as a social care leader I earned €43,000 I am currently back in education and expect to earn over €50,000 when I am more qualified. Social Care is a very broad area. SCPs can expect to earn between €25000 and €60000.

sambuka41

rinty wrote: »

The money is really crap as a social care worker especially over the last year.No overtime,sleepovers,split shifts. a sleep over pays about 30 euros after tax. So for 3 sleepovers you get about 60 euros for 26hrs. Most people sleep for about half the night and some get no sleep.Dont even mention the weekend shifts.
To put it all in context.for the hours you are away from home,it works out about 10.50 an hour,,17 euro my arse

You can get paid 17 euro an hour,thats what im on currently. I dont have a degree in social care either, mine is in psychology. If your working with Young people with challenging behaviour the average starting wage is about €33,000. Ive seen some other social care positions for about 30,000. The hours are unsociable and the work is hard,thats why the wage is so high.

rinty

First of all the question was about "social care worker" wages and that was the question I answered. Doctors get great wages so does that mean nurses get the same...basic logic missing here. If you are an ordinary social care worker you may have to work upto 3 sleepover shifts a week on top of your 39 hrs..People have to be made aware if this..This means you are away from home for as much as 65hrs a week...If you take home net 600 a week you are doing well..This is less than 10 euro an hour...If you get a house with no sleep-overs well then you will be fine but these are few and far between and getting less and less due to government cuts..Sunday pay may even be cut next. That would bring wages down to minimum wage. The wage maybe 30-35000 but with the sleep-overs you will be doing a year and a half work in one year for that .
17 euro an hour is false information. you have to include the cuts and s/o's.
basically you have to include the reality of the situation.. I left the area a while back and im delighted now. I work in O Briens now making sandwiches and I have my life back. Im not earning much less.. Have to say the 4 years in college was awaste of time.

sambuka41

rinty wrote: »

17 euro an hour is false information. you have to include the cuts and s/o's.
basically you have to include the reality of the situation.. I left the area a while back and im delighted now. I work in O Briens now making sandwiches and I have my life back. Im not earning much less.. Have to say the 4 years in college was awaste of time.

17 euro is what i am paid and is not false information. I only work nights and they are live nights at that. i get 17 euro an hour as well as 10 % on top of that for night work. We have two very differnt social care jobs, as was pointed out earlier, it varies quite a bit.

BUT in saying that im in compete agreement with you on the having no life with social care jobs in residenitals. But luckily they are not the only social care jobs out there, there is day work too. Doing project worker stuff, just a bit harder to get into it.

iPac

sambuka41 is absolutly right, an ordinary social care practitioner working in residential care can expect to earn between 23,000 and 35,000. However, there are many different social care sectors including community development, family support, youth work, child protection work, advocacy, respite care, etc. Each sector has a different pay scale, I've found senior positions in advocacy to be the highest paying. I feel that in residential care people with honours degrees should not be applying for lower positions as they should expect to be supervisors or managers. Lower positions are generally aimed towards people with lesser qualifications, hence the lower wage. At least this is my opinion.

rinty

Why

Van Occupanther

iPac wrote: »

s. I feel that in residential care people with honours degrees should not be applying for lower positions as they should expect to be supervisors or managers. Lower positions are generally aimed towards people with lesser qualifications, hence the lower wage. At least this is my opinion.

Explain?

iPac

Rinty, each of the areas mentioned are areas that Social Care Workers work in.

iPac

Van Occupanther wrote: »

Explain?

Well you see there is a scale, at the top of the scale there are those with a Masters in Social care, followed by those who have an honours bachelor degree, followed by those with an ordinary degree, followed by those with a higher certificate, followed bvy those with a level 5 qualification etc. People who have a masters and valid experience are QUALIFIED to be senior managers. Those with an honours degree and valid experience are QUALIFIED to be managers; while those with lesser qualifications are qualified to be workers unless their work experience is far greater than the experience of those with greater qualifications. This is generally how employers will determine whether a candidate is suitable for any given position.

I think SCPs with higher qualifications are foolish to apply for locum or junior positions with an organisation. They need to look out for positions where their training and skills will be utilised effectively. I have an BA hons in Social Care Practice, as part of my course I did a module on Managing Social Care Environment as do most students doing the same course. People in social care have a tendency to sell themselves short and apply for positions they are over qualified for. This isn't fair on them, the other people applying for the job and it reflects badly on Social Care Practitioners as a whole.

Van Occupanther

iPac wrote: »

Well you see there is a scale, at the top of the scale there are those with a Masters in Social care, followed by those who have an honours bachelor degree, followed by those with an ordinary degree, followed by those with a higher certificate, followed bvy those with a level 5 qualification etc. People who have a masters and valid experience are QUALIFIED to be senior managers. Those with an honours degree and valid experience are QUALIFIED to be managers; while those with lesser qualifications are qualified to be workers unless their work experience is far greater than the experience of those with greater qualifications. This is generally how employers will determine whether a candidate is suitable for any given position.

I think SCPs with higher qualifications are foolish to apply for locum or junior positions with an organisation. They need to look out for positions where their training and skills will be utilised effectively. I have an BA hons in Social Care Practice, as part of my course I did a module on Managing Social Care Environment as do most students doing the same course. People in social care have a tendency to sell themselves short and apply for positions they are over qualified for. This isn't fair on them, the other people applying for the job and it reflects badly on Social Care Practitioners as a whole.

Leaving aside the patronising tone of your first paragraph, I'm well aware that there is a scale. Since 2007 the necessary qualification for Social Care for new recruits is the BA (Ord) in Applied Social Care. While obviously those with an Honours degree have a a higher level of training I can't agree that they should be only considering management or supervision roles. Anyone with an honours degree lucky enough to be offered an SCW position at the moment should take it because the recruitment embargo means posts are thin on the ground. Also, Social Care Leader positions look for 2 years post qual experience while management ones look for 2 yrs SCL experience. This is so candidates can demonstrate that they suitable to work in the field. I've worked with people with all levels of qualifications and none and its often not the deciding factor in their competence. Much of social care is about developing a relationship with service users and some staff don't have the people skills to do that. I've worked with people with the Ord degree who are in senior positions and do an excellent job, and with a unit manager with a masters who was incompetent. A module in management does not qualify someone to be a manager.

OP: AFAIK those working in disabilities with the Ord degree can expect a starting salary of about €32k, same as in residential childcare where I work. Never worked in the disabilities sector myself but I've heard repeatedly that its a challenging place to work. Complaints usually are about a lack of stimulation for the service users, lack of support services and facilities. Of course, like anything else there will be some centres that are excellent and some that are poor. My opinion, for what its worth, is that the stress and long hours involved in social care aren't worth the salary. Stress does depend on you handle it but most if not all SCW's suffer from it regularly. It is however very rewarding and no two days are ever the same! You'll meet some great people and a lot of the time it doesn't feel like working at all.

iPac

Hey look I honestly didn't mean to sound patronising, and I absolutly agree with what you are saying. My personal view is that those with the most experience and the best skills are the ideal candidate for senior positions. However, I just feel that people who put three, four or even five years into college need to do their best to obtain senior positions, provided of course that they have experience. We put a lot of effort into our studies and often end up in positions for which we are overqualified. Social Care Workers come across as unprofessional to other professionals working in similar areas because we do not have a proper system in place to determine if somebody is suitably qualified in social care. I've seen carers for the elderly walking straight into positions in social care, don't you agree that this is ludricous?

When I mentioned the module on management what I meant to put across is that these courses are aimed towards students who aim to be the future managers in Social Care. I too have met managers and even CEOs with masters qualifications who I found to be ineffecive at their jobs, likewise I have met people with NO qualifictaion who I thought were excellent leaders. All I was trying to say is that there is a scale and that we should aim to professionalise the sector. I have come across too many workers who are not aware of best practice because they did not have qualifications, as a result mistakes are made.

I don't think that we need to sell ourselves short just because we are in a recession, in fact I think NOW is the best time to professionalise social care as there has been a huge increase in people seeking to study in the area. Between leaving certificate graduates and mature students competing for places in college the future is looking bright for social care.

owla

Hoping this thead is still open....
Due to the recession social care workers are absolutely not being looked after... in my organisation when people leave they suddenly downgrade the post.... so if someone with a third level qualification leaves the organisation their job suddenly becomes slightly changed, titled 'support worker', minimum qualification the junior cert! I mean its mad, social care organisations are looking for the cheapest... not the best...... I suppose as long as the managers own salary is not affected they chop everywhere else.

mood

owla wrote: »

Hoping this thead is still open....
Due to the recession social care workers are absolutely not being looked after... in my organisation when people leave they suddenly downgrade the post.... so if someone with a third level qualification leaves the organisation their job suddenly becomes slightly changed, titled 'support worker', minimum qualification the junior cert! I mean its mad, social care organisations are looking for the cheapest... not the best...... I suppose as long as the managers own salary is not affected they chop everywhere else.

This is happening in most sectors. What is even worse is companies are even trying to get free labour disguised as internships.

chris_john_lane

Looking for pay scale for Social Care Worker in department of justice?? Job is in Oberstown

owla

try emailing social care ireland. i am sure they can put you in the right direction.
any news on professionalisation@? I hear the board is getting closer. Also what does this mean for us that dont have the title of 'social care worker' , I go between the title support worker and social care instructor! Is there hope for people like me? I have hons degree in social care.
Anyone know how this will stand?

Lorcan.Gleeson

Hi there,

I am a social care worker working in a high support residential unit. Since the change over from the HSE to the CFA the pay scales for social care workers have changed slightly. The new entry level pay scale for qualified care workers is €29,993 in the first year, increasing after every year served but capped at 5 years. However, some private residential companies do not adhere to CFA guidelines and implement their on pay structures depending on qualification and experience. Nearly all residential units provide an overnight rate which is usually around €30 for every night spent in the unit.

Hope this helps.

owla

Thanks Lorcan, this is helpful. In my organisation they are generally looking for qualified people in the residential but i work in a day care centre and there they are looking for the lowest qualifications ie the least pay. When a qualified person retires they change the job description to support worker and ask for minimum juniour cert qualification! any social related qualification is in the 'desirable' box! but are replacing with non qualified ie cheaper staff. i think HIQA has really ensured that qualified people are in residential. At centres we are termed 'instructors' and support workers, and do not get the same pay as social care workers.... i dont know if things will change once professionalised, that could take some time i know, i see on social care ireland they have advertised for people working in social care to apply. The date is now closed however.

chris_john_lane

Is there a extra allowance for staff working in a high support unit?

Lorcan.Gleeson wrote: »

Hi there,

I am a social care worker working in a high support residential unit. Since the change over from the HSE to the CFA the pay scales for social care workers have changed slightly. The new entry level pay scale for qualified care workers is €29,993 in the first year, increasing after every year served but capped at 5 years. However, some private residential companies do not adhere to CFA guidelines and implement their on pay structures depending on qualification and experience. Nearly all residential units provide an overnight rate which is usually around €30 for every night spent in the unit.

Hope this helps.

chris_john_lane

I may be starting in Oberstown detention centre, does anyone know what payscale that will come under? Also is there an extra allowance for working in a detention centre?

LimerickSports

rinty your comments are very negative, social care is a great profession, maybe it wasnt for you, but dont knock it because you didnt like it, i intend to go back to college im nearly 30 now and want to change career to do social care, there are alot of options available for social care graduates with good pay.