International workers in social care

Our vision – Shropshire living the best life

Shropshire Council offers support, information and guidance for international workers in social care. 

Your rights as a care worker in the UK

Like any other worker in the UK, you'll have employment rights while you are working in the UK. This is important because the rules could be different to the country where you've come from.

Under UK law, as a care worker, you have the following entitlements:

• You must be given an employment contract
• You must be given regular payslips that show any deductions for tax and National Insurance if you are required to pay it
• You must be paid a minimum of £12.21 per hour (national minimum wage)
• The Home Office base their minimum on a 37.5‐hour week so if you're sponsored or contracted to work more or fewer hours than this, you need to make sure you still meet the minimum salary requirement on a pro-rate basis
• An uninterrupted 20 minute rest break if you work more than 6 hours in a day
• There must be at least 11 hours of rest between working days
• You must have at least one full day off each week, or two full days every two weeks
• You must have at least 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year (pro-rated as appropriate)

The only deductions that your employer may make from your salary are tax, National Insurance, pension, and accommodation costs where your employer provides this to you. Deductions for any other costs must be with your agreement. All deductions must be shown on your wage slip detailing what the deductions are for.