ILPC 2027

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crises, the English Coalition Government set about restructuring the economy under a neo-liberal austerity narrative badged as ‘efficiency savings’ (Appleby, 2014). The proceeding deep cuts to Local Authority budgets resulted in some paying approximately £600 a month less than market value for social care provision (Mackintosh, 2016). This founding gap has put pressure on some care homes to expose themselves to debt-based financialised capital. When coupled with the continued decline in Local Authority involvement in care home provision, this has created an ever-increasing market for disconnected ‘uncaring capital’ (NAO, 2014; Killett et al., 2016). Ultimately, this has resulted in the proliferation of financialised care home chains in England, which for the most part are geared towards profitmaking, cutting costs and avoiding tax through complex financial engineering and offshore tax avoidance mechanisms (Thompson, 2013; Burns et al., 2016). Against this backdrop, Health and Social Care failings resulting in preventable patient deaths have continued to scar the industry (Francis, 2013; CQC, 2015). Baines & van den Broek (2016) have argued that such reliance on disconnected financing has contributed to the degradation of employee rights, which subsequently impacts on care quality, something which Francis (2015) attributes in part to the stifling of voice within such organisations. Recently, the concept of ‘employee voice’ has emerged as a mechanism it is proposed if effectively facilitated, has the potential to enthuse and promote care quality within care homes (Francis, 2015; Burns et al., 2016). As such, and with the limited research on voice and the influence financialised capital is having on employment relationships from the perspective employee voice within care homes, this paper reports back on the first of four studies exploring the micro-level role of employee voice within such homes. This study aims to explore (1) the impact of financial practices on the socio-cultural context and the employment dynamics between managers and care workers. (2) The characteristics of care homes which facilitate or mitigate against employee voice and ‘speaking out’ (Baines & Cunningham, 2011; Burns et al., 2016). (3) Identifying the organisational mechanisms which could be utilised so as to elevate the voices of employees to gain greater impact in care home organisational decision-making on issues relating to employment rights. By employing a qualitative comparative case study analysis comprising of in-depth interviews, non-participatory observations and document/ artefact analysis, across the four main care home organisational models within the English context, this study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the role individual understandings, cultural dynamics, organisational level considerations and the external factors such as the political economy and financialisation has on employee voice within care homes. This paper thus offers a holistic understanding of the role of employee voice from the participant’s perspective within the English care home sector (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Yin, 2013). Data analysis will draw upon the theory building model proposed by Eisenhardt & Graebner (2007). With economic forecasts suggesting continued growth within the English care home sector, whilst simultaneously the sector continues to experience reduced levels of unionisation (NAO, 2014). When coupled with the UK’s proposed exit from the EU by the end of the decade and the potential risks this may pose to employment rights, this study comes at a critical time, and will contribute to the social care literature on voice and care home cultures, further contributions will centre on the literature on financialisation and employment dynamics within care homes.