CENTRAL government must fund millions owed to care workers in back-pay or care providers will go bust, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned yesterday.

Following two employment tribunals, new guidance was issued last October declaring that the previous flat rate “on call” allowance across the sector was wrong and the minimum wage should be paid for so-called sleep-in shifts.

Now the government has announced that social care providers — including children’s homes — will be given up to a year to identify what they owe to workers who were incorrectly paid less than the minimum wage for overnight shifts.