Homecare Association response to Workplace Monitoring Technologies consultation
The Homecare Association has responded to the Government's consultation on Workplace Monitoring Technologies.
We welcome the consultation but have four fundamental concerns:
- First, the broad definition risks catching the care planning and medication systems that providers need for safe care delivery and compliance. These systems record careworker activity, but they are professional care tools, not surveillance.
- Second, local authority commissioning drives monitoring in homecare. Councils mandate Electronic Call Monitoring in contracts, often with by-the-minute billing.
- Third, where contracts require monitoring, a duty to consult workers could put employers in an impossible position as they cannot opt-out of the technology.
- Fourth, suppliers control software changes, this limits what employers can meaningfully consult on when systems are updated or developed.
For a sector operating under prescriptive local authority contracts, a statutory consultation requirement on monitoring is impractical and counterproductive. The government should instead focus on:
- Reforming local authority commissioning practices to eliminate by-the-minute billing;
- Narrowing and clarifying the definition of a 'monitoring technology' to protect essential care systems;
- Drafting non-statutory guidance with full awareness of sector-specific issues and a realistic awareness of software development processes to ensure guidance does not expect employers to consult on changes they have no ability to decline.
- Engaging with the software supply market if available tools are not serving the workforce or employers.
