Angard and JSA Advice

[jaym]

Year round Angard contract are rarely any sort of full time. I know of one worker who got one shift in six months.

Incidentally no-one can be sanctioned for turning down a part time job unless directed to it by the jobcentre.

The problem is people who have Anguard contracts , if your work dwindles town to part time level and so you can no longer get tax credits so its no longer economical in any way to carry on in the job. Thats the problem you can find yourself far worse off then on JSA if a job that originaly you took as it was full time reduces down. It's a catch 22 now as if you jack in a part time job you get sanctioned as well. Refusing a part time job is ok but jacking one in or getting sacked from one is not. I know several people in an area of high unemployment whose only employment options were to comute long distances to where the nearest full time work is. The trouble is their employers felt the pinch and their hours got cut back to part time. Because of this their tax credits ended which they needed to pay their transport costs. They are now stuck in jobs they can't aford to get to do, with little chance of their workload picking up. This is a ridiculously unfair situation and my heart goes out to anybody now caught like this.

[ennabee]

i know it's a complicated situation and it doesn't encourage Part Time work. If a job reduces down to under 16 hours people should sign on, few will get any more money that way (at 16 hours) but a full NI contribution is paid, and if the job reduces further, or you get no work at all, you get either a % of, or full JSA for that week. You can be a "jobseeker" and still work up to 16 hours per week. If you go over 16 hours again you have to sign off and make a rapid re-claim when you are back under 16 hours, which is a complete pain.


I know this as I asked at the Jobcentre re. being interviewed for a job that is 15 hours pw (3 days X 5 hours) but now and then you get a 4th day, In that case I would have to sign off for that 20 hour week and do a rapid reclaim when back on 15 hours. Probably I wouldn't sign back on as the job is a MINIMUM of 15 hours, unlike Angard, so I'll get more than JSA anyway.

[jaym]

i know it's a complicated situation and it doesn't encourage Part Time work. If a job reduces down to under 16 hours people should sign on, few will get any more money that way (at 16 hours) but a full NI contribution is paid, and if the job reduces further, or you get no work at all, you get either a % of, or full JSA for that week. You can be a "jobseeker" and still work up to 16 hours per week. If you go over 16 hours again you have to sign off and make a rapid re-claim when you are back under 16 hours, which is a complete pain.


I know this as I asked at the Jobcentre re. being interviewed for a job that is 15 hours pw (3 days X 5 hours) but now and then you get a 4th day, In that case I would have to sign off for that 20 hour week and do a rapid reclaim when back on 15 hours. Probably I wouldn't sign back on as the job is a MINIMUM of 15 hours, unlike Angard, so I'll get more than JSA anyway.

Thanks for the info its very usefull indeed, I have a mate (ex Royal Mail) now on 16 hours a week, he's finding it impossible as its different days at short notice each week so he cant find a second part time job to fit together with it to make his hours up to fulltime to get tax credits. He is really miffed because he has to buy his DIY store uniform out of his own pocket and can get no help on 16 hours, but if he did under 16 hours the jobcentre would pay for it (bear this in mind seeing as you do 15)!!! I said can't he drop his hours to 15.30 a week to get the help? But someone else told him thats the worse thing you can do as the Jobcentre automaticly think you are dropping your oficial hours to claim but are secretly doing hours on top on the side and not declaring them so you get non stop harresment as they have you under constant suspicion.

[ennabee]

The problem with working short hours is you dont get much more money - if you do, say, 10 hours at £6.08, you get the around the JSA figure I think, but as far as I know you still get any extra help you get from being in reciept of Income Related JSA.

If you earn £90-£100 odd for 15 hours you just get that, but by signing on as far as I know you still get those "extras" , and if, for example, you go down to 5 hours you get topped up to JSA (+£5?) and there's no signing and re-signing . Problems - your payments get messy, and you're sent lots of paperwork. The big pain is signing off if you go up to 16hrs and on again when you go under (hasn't happened to me yet).

Plus if signing on you have to still prove you are looking for a full time job.

When I'm establshed in my job I'll probably sign off as I'll be hopefully be getting £100 pw PT and will be able look for extra work in my own time and own way. I find I waste time applying for jobs I'll never get to satisfy the Jobcentrre at the moment. It's easier without their "help"

If someone is getting housing benefit etc it might be easier for them to still sign on , I dont' know.

[jeean]

The problem with working short hours is you dont get much more money - if you do, say, 10 hours at £6.08, you get the around the JSA figure I think, but as far as I know you still get any extra help you get from being in reciept of Income Related JSA.

If you earn £90-£100 odd for 15 hours you just get that, but by signing on as far as I know you still get those "extras" , and if, for example, you go down to 5 hours you get topped up to JSA (+£5?) and there's no signing and re-signing . Problems - your payments get messy, and you're sent lots of paperwork. The big pain is signing off if you go up to 16hrs and on again when you go under (hasn't happened to me yet).

Plus if signing on you have to still prove you are looking for a full time job.

When I'm establshed in my job I'll probably sign off as I'll be hopefully be getting £100 pw PT and will be able look for extra work in my own time and own way. I find I waste time applying for jobs I'll never get to satisfy the Jobcentrre at the moment. It's easier without their "help"

If someone is getting housing benefit etc it might be easier for them to still sign on , I dont' know.

Im ex jobcentre,,, if you work under 16 hours, you will still be expected to look for work, any money you earn is deducted from your JSA benefit, it also affects your housing/council tax benefit,
if you work 16 hours, you can claim working tax credit, child tax credit if you have kids obviously, money wise it is better to work 16 hours as you keep your wages and all tax credits, which is a lot more than jsa minus wages.

[POSTMAN]

if you work 16 hours

24 hrs soon!

[ennabee]

It dosen't work that easily (the "system") if you only get 16 hours now and then, sometimes get nothing, sometimes 12 hrs. sometimes get 16hrs plus