to think most part-time workers don't know what's about to hit them?! (Universal Credit)

[aufaniae]

Do you work part-time and get Working Tax Credit or Housing Benefit?

Did you know that once you're on Universal Credit, you'll be expected to attend the Job Centre to prove that you're looking for better paid work / more hours, in much the same way as unemployed people must prove they're looking for work.

If the Job Centre find an interview for you, you will have to attend (with 48 hours notice) even if it clashes with your paid work.

If you are offered a job with more hours, or better pay than your current one, you will be obliged to take it, even if you have good reason for not wanting to e.g. it's only a temporary post (whereas your current one is permanent) / has no training & worse prospects than your current job / makes picking your children up from school impossible / requires you to travel much further / has nothing to do with the career you're following.

If you don't attend the interview and/or take the job, your UC will be sanctioned, you will lose the UC for months or even years (depending on if it's your first infraction).

You will be forced to continue "upgrading" your job until you earn the equivalent of minimum wage for 35 hours a week.

I suspect there are lots of people (e.g. parents who work part time so they can pick their kids up from school) who will be affected by this, but don't realise it yet.

More info here

I wish there was more compassion and empathy. It seems everyone is stressed and pushed to the limit. The UC is going to be a spectacular disaster. It's going to be a nightmare to administer. And once again, it's workers who ate being punished. I want to see the generations of families who have never worked, and do not intend to, back to work. Yes, anyone abusing the part time system should be made to work harder. But first we need to concentrate on those families who have never, and will never work.

I feel for every working family this is going to affect. Expecially single mums who are the most hard working group in our society.

Kind of, Marius - the problem is that on a month by month basis (which is how self employed people will have to submit accounts to HMRC to qualify for UC) then many of us will show a fluctuating income which may put us under minimum wage for a month, or two - but not when taken as an average across the whole year.

This could be just down to when we are paid (I get paid lump sum fees at the start and end of a project - not monthly) - or a month when I have a reasonable income but high capital expenditure. So would show very little profit, or even a loss - for that month. But not across the whole year.

currently tax credits entitlement is based on income when universal credit comes in the child tax credit component will be rolled into it and your household capital will be taken into account. Anyone with savings above £6000 will be affected even if they were trying to save for a deposit on a house

It sounds to me as if this will cost more to administer than it could ever save even at best estimates. Cock Ups will lead to suicide, illness due to malnutrition, hypothermia, inability to afford prescription medicines etc. Hardly make the people concerned more employable.

cannot link but for those interested here is a dwp document if you google
Universal credit and capital rules

Baking novice employers abuse the part time system too e.g. by saying your part time job is Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. But you MUST keep yourself available for the employer on Thursday and Friday "in case you are needed"

Sole traders don't earn anything. They are taxed on the year end profits, not on whatever they draw.

You can't just make up figures, it'd seriously mess up the accounts and HMRC would jump on you.

Beautifulbabyboy i think the standing together is very soon about to begin.

www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/campaigners-unite-to-fight-housing-benefit-cuts/6525584.article#.UQwn1h4VTn4.twitter

I've been wondering for a while how this government is actually gonna go about reopening the workhouses. I've a feeling Universal Credit might be the preamble...

I want to see the generations of families who have never worked, and do not intend to, back to work.

I want to see the generations of families who have never worked, Baking. There aren't any.

Well, i for one will lie & say that i earn minimum wage on the months that i don't. I have expenses, equipment to buy etc.. I don't always make a profit on a monthly basis, but i do over the year, surely that's what should matter?!

Anyone sure how many hours a lone parent needs to work (self employed) once child is at school?

marius - if self employed are required to submit monthly info in the same way as PAYE then we will have to provide bank info that tallies with our accounts.

So we will have to show that money came into/went out of our bank accounts, and actually exists, iyswim.

If not, then I guess people taking cash payments could inflate/deflate those amount as it suits them...

I am never paid in cash. Always via bacs. As someone else has pointed out, they are taking savings into account as well, so I think there will be a fair bit of having to provide evidence of capital/income via bank statements. (the 'real time' payroll all PAYE workers are having to move to is about tallying bank info sent to hmrc with the payroll info employers send hmrc).

Oh & ClippedPhoenix, you're wrong. These are not proposals. Universal Credit is being phased in this April. It's the law.

x post with itsallgoingtobefine - yes, she's right. Inflating your income for the odd month here and there would totally balls up your year end accounts. It's all hmrc, remember - same organisation.

Hilarious!! It is absolutely pointless for me to put my weekly self employed wage into the bank. Say i earn £90, i don't run the bank & put it in, i but food with it, petrol with it, clothe my child with it etc.. My bills come out of my tax credits via my bank account.

I cannot see this really happening? Are they for fucking real??!!! We need to protest, seriously.

Politics of this aside, this is never going to actually work is it? I he complexity of it, and the amount of computer systems that will need to be joined up makes me think this might not make it past the pilot schemes - or it will be an unmitigated disaster. The UK government has never been very good at pulling off large IT projects and this one is massive.

Is it really naive of me to stick my head in the sand and assume the system will break before they get round to reassessing me (or that Scotland will get independence!)

Peppermintlatte - I agree it's the yearly profit that counts when you're self employed. Monthly accounts just don't reflect the reality of how we work.

However - if hmrc ask for bank info to back up profit/loss accounts then there is no room for fibbing anyway.

PEACE AND LOVE

We'll see huh.. I don't actually believe that the bottom line will happen. It can't, there will be anarchy. things will be means tested which is ok really. As for part time workers as myself. you can go along with it and look maybe but guess what there aren't enough jobs out there so how they can "enforce" this is ridiculous.

rain borrow money off somebody who has it available, stick it in yiur account, withdraw it the next day, pay it back to them? Desperately cluthching at straws here!!

Are they really going to request to see monthly bank statements? I don't put my earnings into my account, it's pointless! I'd be withdrawing it out an hour after.

I was once self employed. I was sometimes paid on cash and I didn't always bank it. I always declared it for tax purposes I would resent being forced to bank it and incur extra bank charges.

To be accurate, and so I'm not scaremongering! then the idea that hmrc will want to see monthly bank statements from self employed people is my guess.

That's purely because they seem to be doing everything to make self employed people behave like PAYE employees for UC purposes. If everyone on PAYE is getting details of their pay sent by their bank to hmrc each month, I don't see why they would be hands off with self employed. BUT that is my guess.

That said, whatever you do on a month by month basis will have to tally up with your year end accounts. If we do have the option of fibbing, then we would have to be damn sure that we weren't left at the end of the year with an income we hadn't actually earned - but would count towards taxable income....

Itsallgoingtobefine - here, read and weep! - www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/01/universal-credit-computer-failures

The idea of hmrc administering anything on this scale appalls me. They seem to be driving through whatever the problems are though.