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

[aufaniae]

The best thing we can do is to vote them out.

I'm tempted to set up an "Anything but the Tories" campaign which encourages people to do tactical voting to vote for the party most likely to get them out at the next election!

[PearlyWhites]

Marking place

[calandarbear]

Not sure about anything but them tactical style voting. I always have and always will vote having read manifestos and made as informed a choice as you ever can when it comes to politics. This means I have no pre-set alliegence but vote for whoever offers the best for me at the time of the election. I have in the past voted for all of the main parties, my decision this time round will again be on manifestos not blindly voting for 'anyone that will get this lot out. That may be a main party that may be a smaller party or independant.

[aufaniae]

I notice that "improving personal presentation" is on the list as things that people have to do to prepare for work?

Does that mean that people who have alternative looks will be told to remove piercings / dreads etc by petty bureaucrats in order to keep benefits?

DP has dreads. He's had a career in the music industry. Were he to find himself unemployed, he'd be much less likely to get a job in his chosen field if he was forced to cut off his dreads and dress straight! And he has no experience in office jobs! But I can easily see job centre staff disagreeing on that one as the music industry doesn't generally recruit through job centres so it's not something they have any experience of.

He's had his dreads for over 20 years (and yes he does wash them before any of you ask!). Being forced to cut them off or starve would be a horrible thing to do to him.

I imagine this kind of thing will start happening to lots of people, if it's possible. The amount of power being put in the hands of Job Centre staff to persecute or bully people is massive. I'm sure there are lots of lovely job centre staff, but lots who aren't also. What recourse will people have if they feel a Job Centre employee is using their power to persecute / bully them I wonder?

[garlicblocks]

It will depend on the 'advisor', Auf, but the likely answer is yes. A woman was told to get her hair cut and given the money for it. She spent the money on food. She was sanctioned.

[garlicblocks]

What recourse will people have? There are complaints procedures. Depends how good you are at living on thin air for months and months while you battle through the system.

[Viviennemary]

The system was no better under labour. It was a totally crazy non-cost effective system costing billions in red tape. With the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. It was long due an overhaul. But we will have to wait and see how things go under this new scheme.

[noddyholder]

To maintain the illusion of wealth that people felt labour would have had to keep borrowing It was all debt.

[Darkesteyes]

aufaniaeMon 04-Feb-13 13:30:08


Good news 5madthings & crikeybill. £425 is the figure for couples with no children (it's approximate).

So couples who choose not to have children or who cant have children are buggered then.

[expatinscotland]

Oh, yes, the internet is a luxury and you can just go to the library. I was waiting for that to be trotted out.

In many rural areas, there's no library or it's so far the cost of travelling there on a bus, expensive in such places and limited, is more than a cheap plan through a mobile.

Landlines are not cheap, especially if you have only BT available, and you need to be contactable by phone if you're job-hunting.

It's often cheaper to get a mobile.

[5madthings]

aufenie was saying it was good news that my do earns over the threshold for couple with children, we just earn over thge threshold for a couple without actually, but only just. We don't get working tax credit or housing benefit etc just the minimum amount if child tax credit and when we had ds1 and ds2 we didn't get that as it wasn't available.

Its car for everybody with kids or not but obviously for me it would be much easier to work if we didn't have the mad things, dp's job makes it impossible to get work and childcare with his shifts and the on call nature of his work so am relieved he earns enough. Doesn't mean that I or anybody else is pleased how the changes will affect those without children, it is crap.

[garlicblocks]

Auf, could your DP say he's a religious Rastafarian?

Doesn't help any other people with less-conventional characteristics but it might help him!

[aufaniae]

Darkesteyes yes sorry, I should have made that more clear. That comment was aimed specifically at 5madthings, who was trying to work out how it would affect her family.

I am yet to find any good new in this in general!

[Darkesteyes]

Agree with 5mad and aufanie. Its crap for everyone. The work and the hours just arent there.

[5madthings]

Yes I am wondering where all these jobs will magically appear from with full time hours... Will people have to do several part time jobs to get up to the minimum amount? My mind boggles when I think how people /would have to juggle things?

Its crap full stop, there aren't the jobs available.

[aufaniae]

garlicblocks unlikely, not too many pale Scottish Rastas about, reckon they'd smell a rat

I'm really hoping we won't have to deal with them any time soon (depends on whether DP can find employment for when he finishes his degree in June. I've decided to be optimistic atm!)

[aufaniae]

"A woman was told to get her hair cut and given the money for it. She spent the money on food. She was sanctioned."

That's immoral IMO

[Darkesteyes]

Of course this will really help
Jobcentre pressures employers to convert paid vacancies into workfare.


www.montrosereview.co.uk/news/local-headlines/jobcentre-pressure-on-employers-1-2726630

[aufaniae]

That's appalling

[ivykaty44]

There is another point to this - if you have a part time job, then you will be expected to get a full time job and one way around this will be for many people to take (or be pushed) to getting a second part time job.

This of course will mean that you will pay a higher rate tax on your second job and effectively pay more tax than someone earning the same amount in one full time job.

So again the government will collect more revenue for the less well of

[garlicblocks]

Ivykaty, how would that work out? Surely your tax-free threshold will be applied to your first job, then you'd pay tax as normal on the remainder of your earnings - whether it's from one job or two.

[ivykaty44]

Garlic - if you have a first job and you earn 6.50 per hour and work 18 hours per week then your pay per year would be 6084

For most people the tax free threshold would be 9000 or thereabouts so you get another (nearly) 3000

for your second job lets say you earn the same 6.50 per hour and work 18 hours per week and so earn a wage of 6084 - all of that money will be taxed

whereas you have nearly 3000 of your allowence left over but will pay tax on the full amount in the second job, rather than just the 3000

[ivykaty44]

Understanding tax codes from different jobs or pensions
You should get a tax code for each job or company pension. This tells each employer or pension provider how many tax allowances you get. But your Personal Allowance - and therefore your tax-free pay - will normally only apply to your main job or pension.
If you pay tax at basic rate (20 per cent) you'll be given a 'BR code' for your second job or pension - this means that you pay basic rate tax on all your income from this employer or pension provider. If you pay higher rate tax (40 per cent) you'll be given a 'D0 code' for your second job or pension and you'll pay higher rate tax on that income. See the later section 'PAYE Coding Notice entries explained' to understand more about these codes.
If you pay additional rate tax (50 per cent) you?ll be given a ?D1 code? for your second job or pension and you?ll pay additional rate tax on that income. For more information read the section ?If your income is above £150,000?.

taken from here

[CuthbertDibble]

But you will get that tax back.

[garlicblocks]

Also from your link, ivykaty:-
Sharing your Personal Allowance between jobs/pensions
Avoid paying too much tax if you don't pay tax on your main job
If you don't pay tax on your earnings from your main job and you're not using all of your Personal Allowance you can tell HMRC to use what's left in your second job. If you don't do this you could end up paying too much tax. You can share your Personal Allowance across several jobs or pensions until it's all used up.

:)