Argh, I don't think there is a way around this is there ??

[MrsMorgan]

A friend of mine is an assistant manager of a shop. She has emailed me today to ask if I was looking for work, which I am. Problem is it would only be a 4 hour contract although she there would always be more hours available.

The contract would also only be a temp one, with a view to keeping me on after xmas.

I can't see how i'd sort out the tax credits, housing benefit issues though if i never knew how many hours i'd be working

Is there a way around this ??

Anyone got a magical solution ??

hi, i work 4 hours a week, if they are you contracted hours, then that is what you work officially, and what you need to tell income support/HB/tax credits etc.

you can earn £20 a week before they deduct from your benefits, and at that low a wage, it wont affect you're tax credits.....assuming you're on income support, as long as you are still on it (whatever the amount) then you're HB wont change.

Any overtime you do, you can either take time off in lieu, or you have to let income support know how much extra you have earned so they can deduct accordingly.

Hope that makes sense!

hi mrs morgan, I don't know about the housing side of benefits, but I do know that to recieve working tax credits you nust be working a mimimum of 16 hrs per week.

Do you think that is a likely possibility? If so I would phone up tax credits the benefit comes through fairly fast.

good luck

Thanks both.

She said that she thinks I would end up working 16 hours or more most weeks but that the contract would state 4.

The thing I am worrying about, is if I did 16 or over one week and then a couple of weeks where I did less. Then i'd not be entitled to tax credits for those weeks.

I have told her the problem anyway so will see what she says.

It is so annoying that they make this so hard because I would jump at the chance to do it if I could sort it all out.

i know what you mean, i'm thinking of finding a new job where i can do 16 hours a week, I'll be better off and not feel the guilt of relying pretty much solely on benefits!

With tax credits, they look at your actuall income, not the contract you've been given. But with income support, if I worked even an extra hour, I'd have to ring them up, send in my payslip, and get that extra hours wages taken off my income support! It's ridiculous.

At least if I can get 16 hours, I'll get 80% childcare paid, on top of the 12.5 free hours DD gets already.

Your main problem is the irregularity of the hours, it would mean a lot of phonecalls to IS and sending payslips etc, then you wont know which week they will deduct the extra, or not give you any at all because you've worked over the limit.

Very frustrating!

Yep thats exactly what I mean Cordon, I'd literally be having to ring them every week.

She has just emailed me back and said she will speak to the manager for me tomorrow and see if there is anyway they can make the contract 16 hours minimum, but it is doubtful.

Nice of her to try though.

fingers crossed for you mrsmorgan, despite how complicated they make it, there are some really good incentives for getting back to work 16 hours a week.

Have you got a lone parent advisor? I think its great that they will give you a one off grant of £250, then £40 a week for a year for returning to work, working tax credits plus 80%childcare costs paid, plus you still get some housing and council tax benefit.

I just hope they dont change it all before I find something!

Yeah, unfortunatly if I did get offered anything before the middle of Jan i'd miss out on the £40 a week thing, because you have to have been claiming for 52 weeks, and I had a break in my claim last Jan.

It's alot of money to miss out on, but it's all about weighing up the pro's and cons i think. This job would be local, small shop, friendly staff, one of whom I know well, and so i'd be prepared to do it if they could sort it out.

ah i see. do you get maintenance for your DC's?

Def all about pros and cons - my 4 hours work on a saturday morning is my break from DD bless her! I think doing 16 hours would be really beneficial, being able to make new friends, spend more time with adults lol, and to be able to feel like something other than just "mummy"!

Yes I agree, I think 16 hours would be perfect.

I don't get any maintenence no, although thankfully my dc to stay over at their dad's one night a week. I'd go mad otherwise lol.

If the hours avaerage over 16 hours you could claim TC . I used to be contracted 11 but regularly did 5+ Overtime and was eligible