Short time working and Tax Credits

thecoffeehouse204

I'm currently working 16hrs a week as a bookkeeper/admin for a small firm. The firm is going through financial difficulties & a lack of work at the moment so i'm really not needed to be here for the two full days.

For the last few weeks the boss has been telling me to leave once all my work is done and he'd pay me to the end of the day but this isn't really financially viable for him anymore as every penny counts so the idea of short time working has been mentioned. Obviously the cut in pay wouldn't be ideal but the thing that worries me most is our tax credits as i'm working the minimum allowed for the childcare element. Taking my little one out of nursery isn't an option as i'll still have to come in for the two days a week just less hours per day and we don't have any family nearby to look after her. With getting less pay each week the working tax credits we get are going to be even more vital.

Hopefully the firm is due to get a big contract in January so work should pick up and i'll go back to my 16hrs a week (maybe more) so with it potentially only being 6-8weeks i'll be on short time do I still need to contact tax credits or can my hours be worked out as an average over the year?

Any advice would really be appreciated, thanks.

thecoffeehouse204

Am I likely to get more of a response if this was in the benefits board?

Sorry for not giving people more time to reply i'm just worried sick about this and seriously starting to think we'd be better off if I just gave the job up and took our little girl out of nursery rather than face a couple of months uncertainty but I really don't want to let my boss down as he's always been very good to me.

Firetastic

You have to inform tax credits of any change of circumstance so they can pay you the correct amount.

cr1mson

Could instead of short hours agree a temporary reduction in your hourly rate if you are above NMW so you still officially work 16 hours but it costs your boss less?

C

thecoffeehouse204

Thanks cr1mson, the same idea came to me earlier too - can't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Dropping to NMW would make about the same difference financially to the firm as cutting down to 10-12 hrs a week and not affect our tax credits. Feel so much better knowing there is a solution - just keeping everything crossed now that we get this big contract in January or I won't have any job to be worrying about.