JSA and Working

smulx

I know that a person is allowed to work up to 16 hours, and the amount that they make will be deducted from their allowance, but I'm not sure how it would work in my situation. I'm starting work as a door supervisor and my shifts are going to be different every week. Some weeks I might not even work, but the weeks I do work, it'll be less than 16 hours but I'll earn more than what JSA would give me so I wont be entitled to anything.

Is there any way to work this, or will I have to sign off? With me not being guaranteed shifts every week, I'd rather not end up having to go some weeks without any income at all. But I don't know if the job centre work this out on a week by week basis, or if I have to be working a certain number of hours weekly and they'll deduct the appropriate amount from my JSA.

I hope that makes sense. I'll try to explain differently if it doesn't.

Thanks.

tcr_3

Everytime you sign on, tell the Job Centre that you've worked in the previous fortnight. They'll ask you to complete a B7 form, on that you put down the number of hours you've worked & what you've been paid, take your payslips with you if you have them ... the Job Centre will send it all off to the JSA team at your local benefit delivery centre & they'll decide what (if anything) you'll be entitled to for those two weeks.

smulx

okay cool, that doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would be. If I earned £200 in one week, but the other week I didn't earn anything, would I still be entitled to a weeks worth of JSA? Or is it calculated per fortnight and not per week?

Thanks.

cassieB57

hours and earnings would normally be averaged if they vary-if there is a pattern of work (eg over 3 weeks worked, week 1=10 hours, week 2= 14 hrs and week 3= 6 hours and so on) they will average over that same period. If there is no pattern an average should be take over 5 weeks. This also means you wouldnt have to sign off if you worked 16 hours or more in one week-it should be averaged out. If you are not paid weekly, the delivery centre will calculate what the weekly amount is and take that into account, after deductionsfor tax and NI if paid. They wont take earnings into account until they are actually paid so you only declare pay received, not what you have earned.They wont carry over earnings so for example if you received £200 one week, it would just cancel out your JSA for that week and the excess is ignored (though it could affect your HB if you received that). You should carry on signing even if nil rated for JSA as you would still get your NI stamp paid for that week, and can still get things like help with travel costs to interviews, provided you are still looking for full time work

smulx

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully it wont last long as I may have a full time job lined up too.