Hi, I'm in a bit of a situation and just seem to be facing a brick wall whichever way I turn and I don't know what to do. It's quite long and complicated.
I work on an 8 day rota and get paid weekly, the reason for the 8 day rota is that it ensures that no one gets stuck with all the busy shifts all the time and so it falls forward a day each week. Each shift is 10-7 but we get half an hour taken off for a break, so each shift is 8.5 hours. So taking into account the way the rota works, for one 4 week period I technically get paid for 25.5 hours a week, then the next 4 week period I get paid for 34 hours a week. Working it out over the year, on an average, that's 29.75 hours a week. I always work 4 shifts in a row, but they may be Mon, Tue, wed, Thurs which is 34 hours in the same week or then it may be Fri, sat, sun and Mon, first 3 shifts in one week, the next shift in the following week, so 3 shifts that week.
I've worked there a year and have done a fair amount of overtime since I started, and changed my tax credits to reflect this as it happened. It was sometimes just starting 2 hours early for a few weeks, or for 6/8 weeks at a time was doing 5 nights instead of 4 to cover after someone left the other job. That happened 3 times.
I am a single parent and was recieving wtc and ctc, around £100 per week for both. Now that the overtime has stopped (I have no choice in this) I have changed tax credits to 29 hours (they told me to declare 29 because they round down so the .75 doesn't count) and have lost £30 a week. Speaking to them I've apparently lost a 30 hour element? I had no idea this existed and I was getting it, but tbh, it seems really unfair that for the sake of 15 minutes a week, I'm now really going to struggle to survive. My income overall has dropped by about £150 a month, for perspective that's the council tax and water bill. I already had very little leeway in my budget, once the essentials are covered I'm left with nothing really.
I've been looking at other pt jobs, and applied for a few, no joy because employers want my full flexibility which I can't offer, due to my job. As I'm on a changing rota I can't commit to one or two set days a week either all the time. No one is interested because they'll have to work around me and businesses don't want that.
I'm totally stuffed, I'm looking for something that will give me 30+ hours but they're just not there for the type of work I can do, it's all zero hours. I've worked really hard to repay debts accrued in a crap relationship and my DD is 16 so I don't have childcare issues either.
I don't know what to do, I'm going to end up not being able to pay everything I need to, I can't cut back, I'm in social housing, I already need to restrict fuel use, don't have sky etc, don't have a car etc. I don't have anything I can cut back on. I'm heading back to bailiffs and debt and I can't see a way out. I'm so scared.