Paying care workers correctly in domiciliary care can be complex, particularly when rotas include travel, gaps between visits or waiting time. This guidance brings together clear, practical information on how minimum wage rules apply, with a short checklist and FAQ to help providers review their arrangements and reduce the risk of accidental underpayment.
Home care worker pay: compliance checklist
This checklist will help home care employers ensure they are paying care workers correctly for all the time that counts as working time, in line with National Minimum Wage (NMW/NLW) legislation and the Working Time Regulations 1998.
- Identify what counts as working time
Care workers must be paid at least NMW/NLW for all working time.
✅Always counts as working time:
- Time spent providing care in service users’ homes (contact time)
- Travel between service users during the working day
- Waiting time while the worker:
- Is required to be at a place at a certain time, or
- Cannot freely use the time for their own purposes
- Time spent on mandatory training, supervision or meetings
- Time spent waiting for access to a service user, if required by the rota
❌Does not usually count as working time:
- Travel from home to the first day of the visit, and from the last visit back home (unless contractually agreed otherwise)
- Genuine unpaid breaks where the worker is:
- Completely relieved of duties, and
- Free to use the time as they wish
2. Waiting time vs. breaks – key distinction
Waiting time (must be counted as working time)
- Worker is told when and where to be
- Worker must remain available for work
- Worker cannot leave, or realistically use the time freely
Examples:
- Waiting time between visits because of gaps in the rota
- Arriving early because the employer requires punctuality
- Waiting for a client who is late or unavailable
Breaks (may be unpaid)
- Worker is not required to work
- Worker is free to leave or rest
- Break is clearly identified in the rota
⚠️ If a “break” is too short or too constrained to allow rest, it may legally count as working time.
3. Travel time – what must be paid
Must be included for NMW calculations
- Travel between service users’ homes
- Associated waiting time (eg parking, access delays)
Mileage vs. Pay
- Mileage payments do not replace wages
- Even if mileage is paid, travel time must still be counted as working time to comply with NWM
4. Split shifts and gaps between visits
- If gaps between visits are long enough and genuinely free, they may be unpaid
- If gaps are short, unpredictable, or restrict the worker’s freedom, they are likely to be working time
Ask “Can the worker realistically use the time as their own?”.
If the answer is no, the time should be counted as working time.
5. Minimum wage compliance check
For each pay period:
- Add up total pay (excluding allowances that don’t count for NMW)
- Add up total working time, including:
Contact time
Travel between visits
Waiting time - Divide pay by hours worked
- Confirm the average hourly rate is at or above NMW/NLW
Paying only “contact time” often leads to underpayment once travel and waiting time are included.
6. Working time regulations – rest requirements
Make sure care workers receive:
- 20 minutes uninterrupted rest break if working more than 6 hours
- 11 consecutive hours’ rest in each 24-hour period (subject to sector exemptions)
- 24 hours’ uninterrupted rest each week (or 48 hours per fortnight)
Breaks must allow for real rest, not be waiting time disguised as rest.
7. Good practice for employers
- Clearly distinguish between paid working time and unpaid breaks on rotas
- Record actual travel and waiting time, not just scheduled care time
- Regularly audit pay against NMW/NLW
- Keep written policies explaining pay for travel, waiting, and breaks
- Train the people writing the schedules to ensure they do not unintentionally create unpaid working time
8. Official guidance to refer to
- HMRC National Minimum Wage Manual (working time and travel)
- GOV.UK – minimum wage: different types of work
- Acas – working time rules
- Working Time Regulations 1998
Guidance by sector bodies (useful, but not legally binding in itself)
- The Homecare Association’s National Minimum Wage Toolkit
This is based on official rules and provides helpful examples on how the minimum wage law applies to home care.
Reminder: if a care worker is required to be somewhere, at a time set by the employer, and cannot freely use the time as they choose, that time is very likely working time and must be included when checking minimum wage compliance.
This checklist is for guidance only and does not replace legal advice.