{"id":7758,"date":"2026-09-29T20:58:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visiting-angels.co.uk\/cheshire-east\/?p=7758"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:20:53","slug":"care-jobs-macclesfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visiting-angels.co.uk\/cheshire-east\/care-jobs-macclesfield\/","title":{"rendered":"Care jobs in Macclesfield: pay, hours and the work"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Quick summary<\/b><\/h3>

We pay \u00a315.70 an hour once your three month probation is complete, \u00a314.70 during it, plus 35p a mile. We pay for travel time between visits. No visit is shorter than an hour. The median care worker in England was on \u00a312.60 an hour in December 2025, so it is worth checking what any employer actually pays before you apply.<\/span><\/p>

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The pay, in full<\/b><\/h3>

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What<\/b><\/p><\/th>

Amount<\/b><\/p><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>

Hourly rate after probation<\/span><\/p><\/td>

\u00a315.70<\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Hourly rate during three month probation<\/span><\/p><\/td>

\u00a314.70<\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Mileage<\/span><\/p><\/td>

35p a mile<\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Travel time between visits<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Paid<\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Shortest visit you will be sent on<\/span><\/p><\/td>

One hour<\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

For comparison, the National Living Wage from April 2026 is \u00a312.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. Skills for Care found the median hourly rate for care workers in England’s independent sector was \u00a312.60 in December 2025, with 26 per cent of care workers paid on or within 10p of the National Living Wage, and experienced staff earning on average just 10p an hour more than new starters.<\/span><\/p>

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Why travel time matters more than the headline rate<\/b><\/h3>

This is the thing to check with any care employer, and most people applying do not know to ask.<\/span><\/p>

If you are paid \u00a313 an hour for contact time only, and you spend two unpaid hours a day driving between visits, your actual hourly earnings are considerably lower than the advert says. Travel between appointments counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes, so this is not a grey area, and it is still where many care jobs lose their value.<\/span><\/p>

Around Cheshire East, travel is not trivial. A round covering Chelford, Mobberley and Goostrey has real distance in it. Macclesfield’s terraced streets often mean parking a couple of roads away. Winter in Wincle, Wildboarclough or Longnor takes time whatever the schedule says.<\/span><\/p>

Three questions to ask any employer: what is the hourly rate, is travel time paid, and what is the shortest visit.<\/span><\/p>

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What a week actually looks like<\/b><\/h3>

Home care is not shift work in a building. A typical round is split, with a busy morning, a quieter middle, and an evening block.<\/span><\/p>