Resource for employers with staff who are new to working in social care in Wales

We know more and more people are moving to Wales to provide vital care and support to the people who live here.

We’ve produced this guide, with a focus on Social Care Wales resources, to help you support your staff in their new role and help them feel welcome and settled. Supported and motivated workers are more likely to want to stay working for you.

You can use this guide to support your usual induction process. You’ll find resources and ideas to help your new staff. This guide should be read alongside your own policies and procedures.

Find out about the Welsh Government’s information and guidance for employing international workers in social care here.

You’ll need an applicant’s ‘share code’ to check online about their right to work. Further details can be found here.

The following sections provide links to resources and videos to support your new staff's induction. You may want to consider using these in team meetings, for independent learning and one to ones. To help embed learning, it’s good practice to set aside time after looking at these resources or videos to talk about what you’ve seen together.

The information in these sections should be used alongside your own induction processes.

Social Care in Wales

Social care means different things and is delivered differently across the world.

These short videos introduce social care specifically in Wales:

What is social care?

How does social care work in Wales?

Social care in Wales is underpinned by the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. You can find an overview and further information about the Act on our website. This will provide your new workers with some useful context about their work.

The WeCare Wales website has a range of resources for new workers. This includes information about different roles in social care, stories from workers across Wales talking about what it’s like to work in social care and resources about social care in Wales.

WeCare Wales also offer introduction to social care training. This gives an overview of working in social care with topics including qualities and values, code of professional practice and the person-centred approach.

All Wales induction framework

The framework is split into seven sections about the knowledge, understanding and skills new workers need to gain during their induction period.

There are also digital learning modules that cover the code of professional practice, the importance to Welsh language and culture and legislation that supports a rights-based approach.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding practices differ in other countries. It’s important you ensure your new staff are aware of the safeguarding frameworks in Wales. You can find out about the Wales Safeguarding Procedures on their website or via the app, which can be found in the app store for your device.

The Group A safeguarding e-learning module will give your new staff an introduction and a practical understanding of safeguarding. You can identify which group training is required for each role here.

There are also useful training materials to support staff learning.

Strengths-based practice

Some terminology will be new to your new workers when they start working in social care in Wales. We’ve produced an e-learning module which contains information on strengths-based practice and legislation that supports a rights-based approach.

Welsh language and culture

Wales' culture is distinct with its own language, customs, festivals, music, art, cuisine, mythology, history and politics. This culture may be new to your new workforce so it’s important you help them to understand the culture they’re now living and working in.

Wales is a bilingual country, where we speak Welsh and English. There’s an expectation that a person who uses care and support services receives this in their language of choice. Receiving care and support in their preferred language means people feel more comfortable and can fully understand. There is more information about the ‘active offer’ and what this means in social care in More than just words.

This Welsh language awareness e-learning module gives users an awareness of why Welsh language skills and working bilingually are important.

The Welcome to Welsh resource provides an online self-study unit through several different languages.

You can share these free Camau online courses with your staff. This flexible, bitesize learning focuses on the Welsh words and phrases workers are most likely to need when they’re communicating with the people they support.

You’ll find other resources available about Wales and Welsh society. For example, OpenLearn modules are free to access and cover a range of topics including:

Contemporary Wales

Understanding devolution in Wales

Employee rights

It’s important your new worker understands their employment rights. ACAS provides guidance and advice to both employers and employees.

You can direct your new employees to their website for more information on their rights.

Useful tips from the sector

When developing an induction for new staff you may want to consider producing ‘how to’ guides for the commonly used appliances in your setting, or recipe books with popular meals from the people you support.

You could put together a glossary of some of the commonly used words and phrases in your setting.

To support the well-being of people who are new to working in social care in Wales it’s important and helpful to have a good induction plan in place, to offer professional and personal support.

You can find information and well-being support on our website that applies to everyone in your organisation.

These webpages on our website are a good starting point. They provide health and well-being information and advice for social care and early years and childcare staff.

When discussing this information, it’s important to consider how cultural diversity may impact how some people talk about well-being and may have different approaches to coping. Mental health is an example of where stigma is increasing in some cultures, which prevents people from talking about symptoms and seeking help.

Here you'll find other things to consider when supporting the well-being of those coming to work in Wales from outside the UK.

Regular communication

It’s important and helpful to engage in conversation with your new workers early and often. This includes the time from when they received the job offer up until when they arrive in the UK. This could include virtual meetings and introductions with their line manager and other key colleagues who they’ll be working with.

Settling-in to a home and community

People may benefit from help setting up bank accounts, National Insurance Number, somewhere to live, access to shopping, public transport and other amenities, such as registering with a GP.

You could develop a welcome pack to include information about the new area including doctors, dentists and local shops.

Helping them with these arrangements will make a big difference to how well they ease into life in the Wales.

Engaging existing staff

Integration between existing staff and new overseas workers is strongest when you involve your existing staff as much as possible from the start of the process. When your new workers arrive, a social event is a nice way to help your existing staff and new staff members to get to know each other.

Cultural awareness

Culture can be visible, for example our language, clothing, customs/rituals and food/drink; and it can also be unseen. Culture is powerful and influences behaviour, interactions, communication and beliefs. It’s important to keep a new staff member's culture in mind when inducting and training them into their new role.

It’s also important for existing staff to understand this and where possible undertake learning about their colleagues’ cultures. This may help existing staff understand more about the culture of new team members and in turn help new members feel more welcomed into the workplace.

Discrimination

Discrimination of any kind shouldn't be tolerated in your organisation. As part of your role as an employer in social care you should ensure that you have policies and procedures in place to support individuals reporting discrimination and to address these reports.

The Welsh Government has published an Anti-racist Wales action plan which sets out a commitment to eliminating racism in Wales. Anti-racist means actively opposing racism in all its forms.

For many new workers in social care in Wales regulation is a new concept. As an employer of registered workers it’s important you ensure that your new staff members understand what it means to work in a regulated role.

We’ve produced a number of videos you can share with your staff to help you explain what regulation is and why it’s important.

This page on our website includes information about why we require staff to register and the benefits of registration.

This page on our website provides further information on what registration is and how to apply.

There are a number of routes to register. As an employer, you’ll need to help your new worker choose the most appropriate route to registration. You can find out more on our website.

Code of Professional Practice

Once a worker has registered with us they’ll be required to adhere to the Code of Professional Practice.

We publish a Code of Professional Practice which is a set of rules, or standards, care professionals must work to, to help keep individuals and themselves safe and well. All social care workers in Wales must follow this code.

As an employer you should ensure your staff have a copy of the code of professional practice and that they understand it.

There is also practice guidance for most roles in social care. The practice guidance should be used to support meeting the standards in the Code of Professional Practice. There is also explanatory guidance around using social media and openness and honesty when things go wrong.

You can access these resources on our website.

New staff to the social care sector may not know about our work at Social Care Wales. As part of your induction plan, it would be useful to explain our role so workers understand why they’re registering with us. You can find out more about Social Care Wales here.