In a dillema better off on benefits!

seven-day-weekend

I do understand about the part-time hours. My son works in retail, and most of the employees at the store are on 16 hours or less. And you do have to be available for any time the store is open, so it is quite difficult to look for a second job that would accommodate the first.

As regards 'not doing enough between customers', at least show willing. Get off the till, shut the door, start cleaning the shelves and then if there is a customer you will have to go straight back to the till. At least you are dong as they requested. Just don't sit at the till waiting.

And don't despair. My son, who had an eight-hour contract at one store and now has a 16-hour contract at another, has just been offered a full-time post (39 hours) in the store he works in. It does happen!

superwoman4

My DH was made redundant after 31 years in a factory, took a part time job in retail, till work, never been on a till in his life. Been there 3 years now and now has a 40 hour contract.
I'm telling you this because it's up to you, knuckle down and persevere. As my DD says "if life deals you lemons, make lemonade!"

Clydefrog

Whenever I see a post like this I cannot help but think:

How is it possible, that the Lithuanians / Slovakians / Poles coming to the UK with £200 in their pockets are able to find a full time jobs within weeks, without even knowing the language, while at the same time, an average Brit on 'Benefits' forum is barely able to hold a part-time job?

Perhaps it's down to motivation and determination, rather than anything else?

Just a thought, not a judgement.

Back to the point though: I personally think that the longer you stay on benefits the lower your chance of ever finding a decent job. The longest I was ever unemployed was about 4 months (years ago) and I recall it did terrible things to my confidence and self esteem. It (temporarily) made me unsociable and...err....'out of touch with the canons of a working society'. In other words, it turned me into a fat, lazy !!!!!!!.

relic

Clydefrog wrote: »

Whenever I see a post like this I cannot help but think:

How is it possible, that the Lithuanians / Slovakians / Poles coming to the UK with £200 in their pockets are able to find a full time jobs within weeks, without even knowing the language, while at the same time, an average Brit on 'Benefits' forum is barely able to hold a part-time job?

Perhaps it's down to motivation and determination, rather than anything else?

Just a thought, not a judgement.

Back to the point though: I personally think that the longer you stay on benefits the lower your chance of ever finding a decent job. The longest I was ever unemployed was about 4 months (years ago) and I recall it did terrible things to my confidence and self esteem. It (temporarily) made me unsociable and...err....'out of touch with the canons of a working society'. In other words, it turned me into a fat, lazy !!!!!!!.

Because, unlike most British people, they are willing to take any job available.

A classic case I heard from a friend, this guy was 23 years old, basically went to college since he left school and just did course after course and never really passed any. Once he was looking for a job, my friend told him about vacancies available at Asda and McD. He scoffed at these jobs, thinking that somehow, with no experience, no skills and a terrible attitude, he should be going into the big paying jobs straight away.

I hear this all the time, "there are no full time jobs", there are, you just have to look and be willing to do anything. In my area there are always full time (and more if you want it) jobs available at various factories and warehouses. Yet, I still hear people complaining that there are no jobs.

To be honest though, i'm not surprised. I have a baby due in November, and although I work full-time in a good "career" job, the pay isn't great, and neither is my partners. I asked a few questions on here, then got in contact with my local benefit advisor for the council. She did a calculation for me of how much benefits I would receive if I applied for them once the baby is born. Turns out even working full time, I would receive an extra £147 a week. Now I know why I see many people without jobs in my area, its just easy to live a nice comfortable life without having to work.

Sixer

It is worth noting that many employers of low-wage people - such as retail, which we're talking about here - prefer part-time staff because they want to keep under the Employers NICs threshold. This is currently £136 per week - and with their NICs at 13.8%, it makes a big difference when employing someone at £5.93 per hour NMW. Each hour above that threshold actually costs the employer £6.74. This is why so many low paid jobs are part-time.

joeblack066

OP, have you put your details into www.entitledto.com

That will tell you what you may be entitled to!

I would suggest that you stay in this job, and find a way to make a little extra money over and above your salary. Could you spend your spare time browsing charity shops to find things to ebay at a profit? Or take in ironing? (I used to do both these things when really struggling). You wil have to declare these earnings, but it will still leave you better off. Once you have been in the job a while, you will be able to apply for full time either there or elsewhere, and then you will be fine.

One last thought - have you checked your payslip to make sure that you are not being taxed BR or something like that? If you do 20 hrs on NMW (£118.60 per week) you should not be paying any tax, and should only be paying a tiny amount of NI.

joeblack066

Doing a quick calc on entitled to, assuming you have single persons discount on your Council tax, therefore estimating this as £75 per month and your rent at £85, and that you are over 25, you should be paying £39.18 towards your rent and CT per week, leaving you with £79.42 per week, more than JSA.
If you are under 25, your contribution to rent / CT becomes £51.12, leaving you with £67.48, more than JSA.

If you managed to earn another £15 per week on the side, you would still not be liable for Tax/NI, and would have £69.03 left if under 25 and £81.07 if over 25.

There should be no circumstances where you are worse off working. The only other factor is if you are having to pay bus fare to get to work. If thats the case, go on freecycle and get a pushbike!

As an aside, is there any chance that your boss could have overheard you saying that you are worse off at work? They could have interpreted this as a lack of committment. You need to go in and say, although working doesn't leave me much better off, I am committed to working hard, succeeding in my job and making a better life for myself.

ravernoloo

hi i have never mentioned this at work. I will accept any job and i was working at a fast food restaurant like macdonalds prior to getting this job but the hours were only 20 a week and because they were not making enough money my hours were constantly being put down lower hence me finding this job. And i am under 25, i dont see where those calculations came from money wise as i worked it out different? i know that i pay £80 council tax, thanks for the advice though. I am looking into maybe doing an apprenticeship to earn more money in the long run x

ravernoloo

this is what i got from my details on entitled to, total entitlements £41.83 a week, so £167.32, take that off my rent of roughly £320 a month, and council tax of £80 a month, i will end up with paying £232.68 towards my rent and council tax. I may have worked it out wrong but i will speak to the council today. thanks for the help

joeblack066

Ok - months are not exactly 4 weeks long so to get an accurate figure - £41.83 per week benefits per week x 52 weeks in the year, = £2175.16, then divide this by 12 = £181.26 per calandar month. means that you will have to contribute £218.74 out of a monthly take home pay of £513.93 (assuming NMW and that your tax code at work is correct), leaving you with £295.19 per calendar month. Multiply this by 12 and divide by 52 to get a weekly figure, and you should have £68.12 per week after rent and council tax paid. JSa under 25 is currently £53.45 for under 25s. So you are £15 per week better off. It's tight, I know. But you are still better off working, in every way.