CQC staff, including care home inspectors, have begun work to rule action this week in a dispute over pay.

The action follows a ballot of 700 Unison members in March which resulted in 73% voting to strike and 92% supporting action short of a strike.

UNISON national officer Matthew Egan said: “The fact so many CQC staff voted for action speaks volumes. They’re woefully underpaid and undervalued, and deserve much better.

“For a decade, they’ve seen their wages falling behind inflation. Now the cost-of-living crisis is leaving many struggling.

“CQC workers do a vital job to make sure safe care is delivered. This needs to be recognised by the government with a fair pay increase.”

Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: “We have repeatedly offered to engage in pay talks aimed at resolving this dispute provided they followed a comparable approach to that employed elsewhere in the public service. By publishing the pay control, the government has abandoned its staff to further real terms cuts and to remain at the back of the public service pay queue.

“This industrial action was entirely avoidable, but the government’s failure to bring anything to the table has made it inevitable and it leaves hard working civil servants with no option but to protest over their treatment.

“Prospect members are the specialists upon whom all aspects of effective government depend. If the government doesn’t change its stance, then it will face a recruitment and retention crisis that degrades the Civil Service and the public services we all rely on.”

CQC salary levels are restricted by civil service pay guidelines. Staff were given a pay increase of between 2.75% and 3.5% last year as well as a one-off payment of either £100 or £150, depending on their grade.

The union said low wage increases due to the government’s public sector pay restraint had seen greater numbers leaving the sector with the CQC struggling to fill vacancies.

A CQC spokesperson said: “Four of our recognised trade unions, RCN, Prospect, UNITE and UNISON, have given notice that from Monday 17 April, their members will be taking action short of a strike (ASOS).

“We will remain in close contact with the unions as this develops.”