Variable hours contract and tax credits

[bananananacoconuts]

Have been offered a Teaching Assistant post in a Secondary school and the contract has arrived for me to sign. I wasn't made aware of this at interview but the contract states it is variable hours between 10-28. The job was advertised as 28 and when i asked in the interview about times of working i was told it was full school days 8.45-3.15
Obviously there is nobody in school to ask as it is closed but i wondered if anyone knows how variable hours work with tax credits? I called the helpline and they were Bob useless! My circumstances haven't changed so they can't assist me! I have 2 Primary school age dc and they will need to attend breakfast/after school club each day so i need to know i'll be awarded working tax credits to pay for that! I am a single parent if that helps and am currently receiving income based jsa. I was thrilled to be given the job, but it is a mine field of sorting especially over the holidays when everything is closed!

You need to speak to the school and clarify what you will be working. If you are working below 16 hours per week on average you won't get help with childcare.

For tax credits you tell them the average number of hours you're likely to be working, then can adjust it if you find you're working significantly more or less on a regular basis.

Congratulations on getting the job, it's such a pain when its a minefield after you've done the hard part of finding a job that works for you!!

Thank you rockchick. Having reread the contract this morning the variable hours sentence is followed by depending in the amount of SEN children present within school within any given year. This makes me hopeful that it will stay at 28 until at least July.

How frustrating. I am looking for work like this. Thankfully I have 16 hours a week in something else while I keep on applying. That means WTC and CTC for a single mum. Well done on getting this job, the number of applicants for TA positions is crazy.
I'm sure you will be over 16h/week, sounds like they are covering themselves, or does it average out because of holidays? Or if a child is sick do you get time off?
I have wondered about the tax credits implications of variable hours because so many jobs have contracts like that now.. 'zero' hours for example! My friend calls TC every week to report her hours.

That's ideally what i'd like to avoid pertemp! It costs enough to call tax credits once never mind every month! It carries on to say that variable hours are necessary with the nature of this type of employment so that does sound as though it's the amount of pupils with SEN In each school year that counts and so i'll hopefully be employed for 28 hours til september.