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

This should have the effect of driving up wages and conditions as companies realise that in order to retain staff they have to increase hours and wages

I suspect more companies will do what my large well known one did, force the night cleaners and similar PT workers to become supposedly self-employed in order to keep their jobs.

Do you know, I'm struggling here to wonder which is worse. The government's plans for UC or some mothers attitudes. I am totally disgusted.

No, it is not okay to work 45 hours + with or without commute when you have young children and it may be feasible for a week or two, but emergencies happen, school holidays happen, illnesses happen, - I tell you what happens, problems? But of course we as a society don't care about that, don't sympathise, don't empathise at all. We just say "Well, I have to do it, so can you." It's not that simple. It's making the life of the workers even more stressful than it is already. There aren't enough full time jobs everywhere for everyone.

I really don't understand why the 'I'm alright Jack' attitude prevails. A disability, a redundancy, a loss of working hours can happen to any of us at any time. We need to be in this together. Wasn't that what was supposed to happen - all in this together?

I think the government proposals stink, they're short sighted and will create more problems than enough - but some posters attitudes on here are worse. Economics wont make family income add up - never will, but that's okay because you can cope. Don't forget - we're not talking about the 3 generations of workshy let's knock out a couple more kids for the benefit families here - we're talking struggling working families. Pick on those who warrant being picked on.

JustGetting - there is a piece of legislation called IR35 which deals with disguised employment, which is what you are describing. Anyone put in that position should go immediately to the taxman.

can anyone tell me what the cut off is? What is considered part time?

Oh for FUCKS SAKE.

I'm trying to look for a job, trying to educate myself so I can go self employed to work around ASD and ADHD DS and the gov just make it harder and harder. I'm a single parent as well.

Alibabba I and many others are well aware of the law, going to the taxman see's you lose your employment all together and the fines levied on the employer are irrelevant, you're still without the work that was letting you stay out of the benefit trap and still be a parent. if you're a parent carting a child at heel with you, you're also highly blackmailable.

"This should have the effect of driving up wages and conditions as companies realise that in order to retain staff they have to increase hours and wages."

It's great that you think driving up wages and conditions is a laudable aim. However if you think anything the Tories are proposing is aimed at helping employees you are mistaken. Their policies benefit big business at the expense of employees, the self-employed and small businesses.

For a start, employers will be able to make use of the free labour of people on the Mandatory Work Activity program - they can get tax breaks to employ people for up to 6 months without paying them a penny (they'll be working for their benefits). This will drive down conditions and make part-time work harder to find.

They are also currently proposing to make it much easier to allow employers to sack people, to shorten redundancy consultation periods and to bring in other changes which erode worker's rights.

Can I ask a question on behalf of my sister? They currently get CTC and a small amount of WTC (they don't get HB/CT as they live with my dad at the minute). Her dd is 5 in october. I've been reading it for her and, as I understand it, in order to still qualify for that she would need to register with job centre and be actively seeking employment won't she?

Is anyone able to answer my question? Will I have to give up my training and therefore job prospects?

I have just copied this segment from the document.

b) We will however ensure in all cases the conditionality requirements we place on a claimant will be compatible with their paid employment, so that no-one will have to forego paid work to fulfil their conditionality.
c) In addition,unlike out-of-workclaimants,working claimants will not be required to be available to take up work or attend an interview immediately where that would not fit with the claimant?s existing contract of employment.

So all this talk of having to drop everything and rush off to an interview, or else lose their benefit is a load of bollocks.

Of course this needs debating, but it is irresponsible in the extreme aufaniae to start a thread like this and give incorrect, or at least incomplete information which means that people are going to be scared unnecessarily.

I'm really worried about this. I work 20 hours a week for NMW. DD is 3. I am starting a degree in April for a minimum of 16 hours per week.

Dd has health problems that require Dr and hospital appointments roughly every 3 weeks. She is too ill to attend nursery about 20% of the time (vomitting etc)

My job is evenings and weekends which suits me perfectly so I can care for dd when she is ill and her dad can care in the evenings while I work. I can also be available for every Dr app, hospital app, random blood tests etc that she needs.

But under UC could they force me to get another job during the day? Which I would probably be sacked from for all the time I would need off for dd. And make me lose doubly by paying for childcare she is often too ill to use?

For example, last January dd attended nursery twice. Then she was hospitalised for a month and bed ridden for 2. She next went to nursery in April. Thank god I wasn't paying for the 11 hours, and had a job flexible and understanding enough to help me through.

This will probably force employers to raise wages in the same way the banks shared out the money the government pumped into it a few years ago.

The government are too buddied up to big business to do anything to really rock the boat. I doubt Dave will be off to Phillip Green to ask him to raise the Top Shop wages to well above the minimum wage.

All those of us that are really worried about this -

Let's not come on here and chat about it and ask each other questions.

Let's write, email, phone our MP's, make nuisances of ourselves, get this all out there in the public eye and let everyone who it won't effect realise exactly what this government is aiming to do.

This UC idea has strayed off track. It isn't going to be implemented in the same form as was originally discussed and like I said earlier people's circumsntances change and it can and will effect more people than ever thought.

Let's all be in this together and start doing something about it.

Well I'm disabled and work part time - because if I work any longer I have a physical collapse - I need those non work hours for therapy and physical exercises to keep me going the rest of the time.

If I worked longer hours I'd have a physical collapse - last time it lasted a year and I'd be out of work and on benefits - cutting my income to the point we'd have to sell our house.
The government would lose my tax that I pay and I'd lose my pension.

Not sure how this would benefit me, society or my immediate family: short or long term.

Anyone who says I can work full hours is welcome to come round to my house where I will arrange for them to break both their legs every 6 months - then see how they manage.

"Let's write, email, phone our MP's, make nuisances of ourselves, get this all out there in the public eye and let everyone who it won't effect realise exactly what this government is aiming to do."

Great idea.

"Let's not come on here and chat about it and ask each other questions."

I totally disagree with this however! I think coming on here to chat about it and ask each other questions is very important. There will be many lurkers here as well as the people posting and most of us are learning new things about how it will work. It helps to talk about it.

I for one have learnt that things have moved on a bit since the first article I linked to and got info from!

The best thing IMO we can all do however is try to make sure the Tories are voted out at the next election.

Also, one point of this thread was to raise awareness amongst the many people who will be affected by the new changes, but don't realise it, or don't know how they'll be affected.

Alibabba, can I also point out that the Tail end Charlie?s hidden from view, were going to be protected by the law and employers made to give us/give us back employees rights when the legislation was first announced, whiuch is how it slid in without an outcry.

But it never happened did it? We became the bad guys, ?cheating? the contactors rights and employees safety systems, not the employers who gave us no real choice.

IR35 punishes the whistle blower, taxing them at an employees rate and denying them SE expenses, it rarely goes after the employer, and when it does the fines are derisory, the whole system just leaves the poor bloody worker up the creek punished for trying to stay working round their children?s needs.

Yes that would be a good idea. Then Labour really can bankrupt us and leave us in the position of Greece, where there is no money at all for anything. We will all be so much better off

Bollocks bollocks bollocks!

DP works full time and earns around £15k per year.(before tax)
I work part time,at weekends for 16 hours I get min wage one day,and time and a half on the other,which means my monthly salary is around £400.
I have a chronic health condition which means I am in pain and exhausted 90% of the time.

We get working and child tax credit.

We have 2DC, 4 year old is at school and 2 year old is home with me during the week,with DP one weekend day and grandparents on the other weekend day (DP works 6 days a week so can only have them one day)

This is already a bit of a struggle,we have a mortgage to pay...we can't afford to put the DC into childcare,not that I'd be able to work anymore hours,I'm already ruining my health...what the hell will happen to us?!!

It goes without saying that labour need to be bought back into power. With their secret bunker full of cash etc as a nation we'll be laughing when they come back!

Oh wait.....

Alibabaandthe40nappies that point (about people having to leave paid work to attend interviews) has been widely reported on the net, however if it's incorrect that's great, thank you for pointing that out, it's useful info.

Part of the problem with all this is that the government are forging ahead with implementing this without releasing the detail (as they still haven't worked it out it would seem!).

It makes it very confusing! There are a lot of articles about this which are, I guess, filling in the gaps with assumptions. I will resolve to check my sources better next time!

However the main point stands, and it's important people understand this is happening as many don't:

People in part-time jobs who claim UC and earn less than MW full time (or fewer hours in certain conditions, e.g. if you have kids) will be classed as "underemployed" and required to prove they are seeking more hours / better pay, and can be required to take new jobs against their will, or lose UC.

Don't most jobs have a three to six month trial period, whereby your employer can let you go for any reason they want to, at any time? So in fact moving people onto temporary contracts is exactly what this will do?
I am doing workfare at the moment, the place I have been sent to is an npo so fair enough, but I appear to be doing work instead of the person who is employed to do it? nevermind the fact the organisation seems to be run by people who can't fund their backsides with their hands
Since October, I have applied for over three hundred jobs, I've had ten interviews and I still don't have a job.
That design one mentioned unthread sounds right up my street but as I don't have a degree is there any point in me applying?

The policy will drive down wages because more people will be available for work, not the other way round.

It would be unlikely for a Tory government to try to raise wages, now, wouldn't it? Big business wants lower wages, and fewer employment rights in order to increase profits. Anything else would be against its ethos.

Of course the government want wages to be higher, because then we all pay more tax.

SouthernComforts is your degree full time or part time? If you're full time I suspect you won't be affected by this as you will be getting a student loan instead.

Do check wil your local council about council tax though - when council tax benefit disappears, some councils will do away with the council tax exemption for students. (That's another one I think people will be surprised about, when they're expected to pay council tax for their DCs at uni).

If you degree is part-time then I suspect it may well affect you. I would advise making contact with the Student Support people at your uni asap (don't wait till you start). They will have staff there specifically to help students with finance issues. I'm also doing a degree and the Student Support people at my uni have been great.