Part time work on JSA

[batwoman83750]

Hi,

 

Im not really sure what to do here.

 

Im currently on JSA and have been for 2 months. However, the temp job I had over xmas has offered me a permanent position. The problem is its only for 9 hours on a saturday. It somewhere I really want to work and they obviously want me as there were over 130 temps they let go at the end of Dec. Also Im thinking once my foot is in the door if any other contracts come up for more hours, I will have first chance to apply before it is advertised externally.

 

I just dont know what happens with JSA. Obviously the money I get will go down, but how does it work? What if I get offered extra hours at work (something that is very possible)? I dont want to turn these down as I want to make a good impression for any other future jobs. Do I declare how many hours I work whenever I sign on or do they look at my average over a certain period of time? Will they stop my payments for so long so they dont overpay me?

 

I have 2 children (age 6 and 3) am I better off on IS? If so, will any benefits stop while they work it out. Ive heard of certain benefits stopping due to a change in circumstances just so they dont over pay. I cant afford to have nothing.

 

Whats the best course of action for me?

 

Thanks

[jadeybags]

Hi

If you have young children you would be better off on income suport than Job seekers?

When on income support you can work, but obviously they will take some away.

Have a look at this site...

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Employedorlookingforwork/DG_10018757

 

And here's a benefit calculator site you can play around on....

 

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

[JrnyFan4Life]

If you're claiming JSA, you can work upto 16 hours without it affecting your claim.

[MONX]

Income Support is only an option if you are a lone parent with young children (youngest under seven) in this scenario.

 

You can work and claim Jobseekers Allowance as long as your hours are less than 15hrs and 59mins in one benefit week. They disregard a certain amount of your earnings dependant on your personal circumstances, single people its the first £5, couples its the first £10 and for couple and lone parents its£20. After the disregard the earnings are taken into consideration pound for pound.

 

For example if you are a lone parent and you earn 5.93 an hour (national minimum wage) x 9hrs then they would disregard the first £20 therefore your Jobseekers would be reduced by the remainder of any earnings after the disregard.

 

wages= £53.37 (9 x 5.93 per hour)

disregard= £20

remainder=£33.37

Jsa - remainder = £32.08

 

This would mean that you would be paid £53.37 by your employer and £32.08 by JSA.

 

You would still have to sign on every two weeks and look for work but you would get your national insurance credited by JSA.

Edited February 16, 2011 by MONX
added a bit!

[batwoman83750]

Hi,

 

We are entitled to IS as my eldest gets DLA and my husband is his full time carer and gets CA. We've had it before. Having said that I might just stay on JSA if I think its better for me (not necessarily financial - we got about the same IS as Im getting JSA)

 

I just want to know if my benefits will stop for a bit while they work it out as I cant afford for that. Im already behind in my rent and now that has finally been sorted Im worried about becoming behind again while everything gets figured out. My Landlord can only be reasonable for so long. Also what happens if I do extra hours one week? Im contracted to work 9 hours a week, but they may ask me to work an extra day here and there. How does that work? Do I just tell them my extra hours or do they need proof etc? Also once I tell them I am working will they stop all my benefits until they have a certain number of wageslips etc?

 

Thanks

[MONX]

If you work extra hours they will just recalculate it, however if you work more than 15hrs and 59mins in one benefit week then for that week you are considered to be in full time work in that week and not available. You would have to sign off for that week and make a new claim.

 

As it was a short period between the claims and as long as there are no changes in your circumstances it would be a Rapid Reclaim so although you are making a new claim you are just declaring no changes in your circumstances just 16hrs or more work in your previous benefit week.

 

They dont end your claim when you declare a part-time job, they suspend it pending recieving the details, when you declare it you fill in an A15c form and another called a B7, this outlines your employment and hours and earnings already earned. You should provide any wageslips but they do contact your employer to confirm these. Once they have established your hours and earnings they calculate it using the formula i gave in my previous post.

 

I believe they are updating the system so that it averages the earnings over a certain period of time so if you did work over 16hrs in one week but it was a one off, it doesnt close your claim but just amends the amount of averaged hours and hearnings. Not sure when this is happening, it is worth asking at the jobcentre.

[batwoman83750]

I was affraid it would stop for a bit. It took over a month to sort them out originally. pants pants pants pants. I really cant afford to have them stop for a bit. Am I better not to go for the job I really want then? grrrrr

 

Oh well will see what happens I suppose.

[jadeybags]

I am anti claiming anything whilst working nowdays. The only thing I will be claiming is a bit of tax credits. I think unless you are on IS it's a total nightmare & going back to work & them messing my earnings up at HB, I ended up 1600 in debt. They love their over payments & the way they treat their errors, our errors & fraud are always the same. There is no difference, you're a fraudster in all 3 ways atleast to start with. And that's scarey.

Having gone through the over payment road after trying to do the right thing & go to work even though my youngest was still young enough for me to stay on IS, I would rather live on less money & be sure I wont ever have to be told 'we messed up, but you didn't notice so we want our money back'

Remember, people that claim benefits are vulnerable, they obviously need the/entitled to the money, so they do have a Duty of care.

That is forgotten when it comes to mistakes though.

Only you can decide if the job is worth doing. If I could go back 2 years I would have stayed on IS.

I dont really see any incentive for people to leave the safety net of full benefits, what with tax credit over payments & all those hassles.

[nicolawelch]

If you do work over 16 hours in a week and/or 32 hours averaged over two weeks, you have to sign off. You can immediately start a fast reclaim once you are unemployed again. What I dont understand is this: If you do a reclaim (after say a temping agency finds you 3 days work), Does the reclaim attract the first 3 days as unpaid waiting days, in the same way as the original claim has the first 3 days unpaid?

[flumps1976]

Yes the system is being updated to allow people who work static hours to no longer have to declare their part time work on form B7 every 2 weeks, when this has been decided at the BDC you will receive a letter to advise you that you no longer need to provide te B7's and will be advised of your buffer zone where you only need to notify the BDV if you earn more or less than the amount on that letter.

Due to the staffing cuts from the fta's being let go the work is starting to pile up so the BDC that covers the JCP where I work is running behind with all work so very few cases have actually been decided for this but it something that is on going.

[antone]

If you do work over 16 hours in a week and/or 32 hours averaged over two weeks, you have to sign off. You can immediately start a fast reclaim once you are unemployed again. What I dont understand is this: If you do a reclaim (after say a temping agency finds you 3 days work), Does the reclaim attract the first 3 days as unpaid waiting days, in the same way as the original claim has the first 3 days unpaid?

 

No, you wouldn't have to serve the three waiting days in those circumstances. Your new claim will link to the old one - in effect it will be treated as a continuation of the previous claim - and the three days you served at the start of your initial claim will be taken into account.