Tax Credits and irregular hours (agency working)

donewiththat

Hello,
Newbie - please be gentle!

I have three young children, single parent, currently on Income Support. I aim to get into teaching and am trying to get some experience under my belt before making an application - with this in mind, I have been offered work as a 'cover supervisor' with a local employment agency (specialised in teaching). I have been assured that working 16 hours a week shouldn't be a problem. Pay is poor but with Tax Credits will just about manage.

Now, here's the issue. The agency works in days and pays by the day. So if I go into a school at 9am and come out at 2pm, I'll be paid the same as if I came out at 4pm.

Have phoned Tax Credits to ask how they'll work it out. They told me that they work by the hour and I'll have to get the employer (the agency) to tell me what 'core hours' I'd be expected to work. To my mind, then, a teacher providing cover for absent teachers with no responsibility for registers or afterschool clubs, activities etc. would work core hours of 9am - 3pm. Within that, it is to be expected that on some days at least, I have a lesson (or more) free and a lunch time (length depending on school) and a morning break (length depending on school). There will be little/no expectation that I 'work' during breaks. Agency reluctant to get involved but seem to feel that I won't be paid for the hours I don't work (despite the fact that I'll be paid the same, whatever time I leave the premises UNLESS I only work up to lunchtime which would be half a day's pay).

Can I therefore reliably claim that my core hours would be 6 per day? Am I pushing it if I say it's a working day and therefore I'm working 8 hours a day as this would be a 'normal' working day and I'm unlikely to be able to fit in any extra work?

Am I over-complicating the issue? Who is going to check up on how many hours I've worked? I realise that it can be averaged over 4 weeks so I can afford some give and take but obviously if I'm in a school from 9am - 3pm but am actually only behind a desk/in front of students for only 3 of those hours, I'm going to be working 5 days a week but only clock up 15 hours work and not qualify for the childcare element of the tax credits (which is crucial as my childcare will cost me £2 a day less than I'm being paid before deductions!).

Hope this makes sense! Your help very much appreciated.

karenx

Are you guaranteed all these hours? Or is it a as and when.
No they dont check up on hours worked, but they will kind of be able to work it out according to your income if you worked enough hours per week.

donewiththat

thanks for that. No, no guarantee although I am assured I can work 5 days a week if I want to. I am unsure - never done agency working before - but really want to give it a go from a long term gain perspective.

So if I were to say to myself (for argument's sake!) that a 'day' is 6 hours, do you think that if anyone should ever check up, that would be considered reasonable and not me trying to cheat the system?!

Carl31

My Partner does irregular hours, initially we provided an average based on her first few weeks work, and as the year went on kept updating that average, then used the average for the prior year as the basis for the following year and so on. The TC people are happy with that.

donewiththat

Carl - thank you. I have chatted with the Tax Credit people and I understand their perspective and in that sense, I am not concerned. My issue lies in the fact I'm paid by the day, not the hour, and I therefore need to somehow turn that day into hours to satisfy the Tax Credit people!

Sam____2

yes they can and do check what hours you work, they don't just take peoples word for it or anyone could say they work 16 hours when indeed they don't. They wrote to my friends new employer to ask how many hours a week she works.