Staff refusing to work overtime because of tax credits.

zagfles

big_finger wrote: »

hello.

Im a small employer in the north east and we are a fairly seasonal business and april if a busy month for us and its also end of year stock take. no problem i though ill get some extra hours off my workers with some overtime to help fill the orders and get the stock take done in this stupid 3 day week they have imposed on us next week.

however.

70% of my staff (anyone with a family) are refusing to work the overtime offered as they say.

1. the money is taken off them by tax credits (thier credits are reduced)
2. if they tell hmrc that they have worked overtime they stop the credits while they work it out and they have to survive without the credits they have come to rely on.

i called hmrc and they didnt seem to know the answer or be able to explain thier own system to me.

can anyone on here help ? i find it hard to belive that the goverment has hamstrung bussiness by penalising people fortunate enough to be in regular employment and in a bussiness that doing well.

any and all help appreciated.

Their concerns are completely misplaced.

1) There's a 10k disregard for income increases. A one off increase in overtime probably wouldn't reduce their tax credits at all.

2) This is utter bulls**t. Tax credits aren't stopped while they reassess for income increases. They are stopped when eg a new partner moves in/out, as a new claim has to be set up. But not for income changes.

So I suspect your staff don't want to work overtime and are using tax credits as an excuse.

zagfles

KimYeovil wrote: »

I don't think there is a solution - it is an abominable situation. But each time this reality is pointed out the usual suspects pipe up screaming "basher".

That's because it's not reality. And the solution is for the clueless people to try understanding tax credits before whinging about them.

FOURCANDLES_2

zagfles wrote: »

That's because it's not reality. And the solution is for the clueless people to try understanding tax credits before whinging about them.

Possible also those that complain are not getting them or anything ie the childless, non married etc , the type of bigot sat in a corner moaning and making assumptions every day of the week like a daily mail reader , when in fact contributing through the tax system very little in the big scheme of things and contributing to life or their surroundings even less:D .

Sixer

On a related note: there have been many posts on here about part-time job vacancies being advertised at 15 hours so that employers can avoid taking on tax credit-reliant employees - especially single parents - because of the 16-hour threshold. These are the people who may find overtime difficult due to childcare issues.

FOURCANDLES_2

Sixer wrote: »

On a related note: there have been many posts on here about part-time job vacancies being advertised at 15 hours so that employers can avoid taking on tax credit-reliant employees - especially single parents - because of the 16-hour threshold. These are the people who may find overtime difficult due to childcare issues.

We also have many large employers basing the wage on the employee able to claim tax credits hence the tax payer is keeping these large employers afloat . Our local independent college did exactly this when they hired caretakers and cleaners paid lower than anyone else and employed family people with children .

alwaysonthego_2

Thread now closed and referred to the forum team