AMA I work for DWP

[PurpleDaisy2114]

Just that really! Not in senior management.

what do you really think of UC

Hi Flossie when it was first announced to staff I shuddered and thought there would be uproar. It was the then 6 week wait for it to be paid, no more hardship payments only hardship advances (loans) that shocked me the most. I didn't think it would get this far.

I do like the fact that the whole 16 hour rule/barrier has gone however.

Anything else you think is an improvement on old system?

Do you think the roll out will be halted/ reversed or is it here to stay?

Does everyone receive an audit of childcare costs? Or is it completely random?

(My files are in disarray!)

do you really have targets to sanction people/not pay them?

Hello. My DS is blind, severely Autistic, no speech, doubly incontinent. It is obvious when you see him he is severely disabled. I apllied for his new style ESA 24th August. Still nothing. Been told by UC last week another 8 weeks.
Is this waiting time normal?

Hi Kiki. I think the online journal is a good thing and like that someone can see exactly what is going on with their UC and is able to communicate with their work coach or case manager 24/7. What isn't made clear is that it is not instant messaging and that note may not be read for 2/3 days if it is the weekend. This does rely however on a certain level of digital capability which some of the most vulnerable people we see don't have.
In theory there is less subjectivity and a definitive process for staff to follow which is positive in some respects.

All job centres in UK have now gone UC full service. It is the 'managed migration' or rolling JSA,ESA etc over to UC that will take longer than expected I think. There is no talk of halting it however.

Childcare costs are random.
Years ago I had to report how many people I put forward for a possible sanction and was told off on the many days I said none. I found it a very difficult thing to live with and hated the culture then.
Now, things have reversed but some staff are stuck in that precious mindset.

Do you feel that you’ve lost your job role? I was speaking to one staff kemeber at my last meeting and she said she misses helping people as a work coach and feels like glorified admin with very little power.

Solebizz, no that waiting time is not normal. To be completely honest with you, they forgot about contribution based benefit in the design of UC and it was brought in as an afterthought. Most staff have trouble fully understanding it. I would get CAB/welfare rights/local disability advocate involved. I'm really sorry to hear you are being put through this additional stress. It must be making life unbearable.

I also work for the DWP- there are no targets for sanctions. I have been a work coach for UC for over a year and I have never sanctioned a customer. Our office does absolutely everything possible to ensure the customers are paid correctly and on time. But there is also a responsibility for the customer to bring in evidence. For example I had a customer not paid their housing but I had been chasing them for 5 weeks to bring in their tenancy agreement- emails, journal messages, phone calls, letters posted. They came in when their first payment was missing the housing, nothing else I could have done to get them to come in. So I verified the housing once I saw them and arranged for an underpayment to be made within 3 days.

Sorry for butting in OP!

I started a new job in sept and my pay has been messed up. 2 months emergency payments and then they processed all 3 months pay through one payroll. UC was stopped as they said I’d received £2k net salary! I’ve also been emergency taxed and despite providing 3 months bank statements and my payslip UC haven’t made a decision about my payment. It’s been 3 weeks now and it’s been sent to HMRC. It’s quite obvious what has happened. And incredibly stressful for me. Do you find that this kind of thing is happening more often under UC and how could this be dealt with more quickly?

Zoflora, there were some people I did feel I was helping but there were many that I felt I was a joke to. I could tell that their life was so removed from my own and that they thought I wouldn't last 5 mins in the real world. I had always worked in deprived city offices. There have been smashed windows, swords/knives stuck through doors, daily potentially violent incidents. It really is seeing people at their worst but I understand this is because of how they are being made to feel. I found it difficult to have much impact so I would often resolve to minimise any negativity.

Your employer would have received a notification from the HMRC to change the dates the pay was relating to. Unfortunately it’s not a UC if the employer messed up the pay. With my customers who have this issue, I ask them to speak to their employer to rectify it and if the employer refused I then gather all evidence and send to our independent team who liaises with the HMRC

I have seen that happen a few times zoflora. HMRC report the earnings through 'real time information' basically meaning we can see it on a screen in DWP. I've known payments show as 2 or 3K from an employer and it be incorrect. It is stressful and very unfair.
I've also known it clearly show people working who don't declare it but less often .

No proms cat toddler. Feel free to correct me if you disagree!

I am having radiotherapy following chemo following surgery. I am getting better physically.
A few days ago I struggled to divide £4.50 between 4. No problem you'd think, but I am a maths teacher .... if I can't do my job due to "chemo Braun" and I am over qualified for other jobs (I've tried in the past) what are my options? My husband is self employed.

Brain not Braun!

My sister has lost her pip payment even though she has inter cranial hyper tension, chronic daily migraines, fibromyalgia and now stress angina and a blood pressure of 200. She has been told she can still work though and her doctor can be reprimanded for giving her repeated sick notes. Who would employ her? Her person at the Jc is enjoying telling her to put in her hours of job hunting or she will be sanctioned and she should be able to do it even if having a migraine.
Oh and she has been told if she tells them of her new medical issue they will have to restart her claim and have 5-6 weeks of nothing!

Staying alive, do you mean ESA? PIP isn’t linked to working.

Should people still on the legacy benefits stay on them as long as possible (ie single mums not risk trying to find a new job-with the fear they will then need to go on UC)?
It doesnt seem worth the risk