Where would we stand?

muddyl

Hi all,

Im hoping someone can help shine a light on this for me please.

My wifes maternity period comes to an end soon but due to her work shifts being changed (Damn government and NHS re-shuffles) its not really going to work out for her to go back to work.

As a result she will not be returning.

Where would we stand with regards to benefits?
We currently get working tax credits and i'll still be working full time. Would she need to register as unemployed? Would working tax credits be altered?

This is not a situation either of us have had to deal with before and as such we have no idea where to beging.

All help with this will be greatly be appreciated.

Cheers, Mark

Mumto3cheekymonkeys

You will get WTC and CTC and no she does not have to register as being unemployed. I would put the situations in to the tax credit calculator and see where you stand.

karenx

You will only get working tax credits if your working 24 hrs plus per week.
An there's no benefits you would get to make up the shortfall from missing wages

caz246

muddyl wrote: »

Hi all,

Im hoping someone can help shine a light on this for me please.

My wifes maternity period comes to an end soon but due to her work shifts being changed (Damn government and NHS re-shuffles) its not really going to work out for her to go back to work.

As a result she will not be returning.

I'm not really sure about the benefits, but just want to check you're aware that if she doesn't return to work she may need to pay back any maternity pay she received? This is what happens in my work so something you should check.

jojo_2012_2

Just thought I'd butt in here and say in my nhs trust if you change your mind and leave after maternity leave, but get another job within the trust within 15 months, you dont have to pay the money back.

McKneff

She could always try to find a job somewhere else.

pmlindyloo

Your wife may be eligible for contribution based JSA.

This will depend on:

1. She must be available for work but can restrict her hours because of baby.
2. She has paid sufficient NI contributions.
3. She is not sanctioned because she left her work voluntarily without good cause (rules are complicated about this and discretionary so best to ask Job Centre Plus.)

muddyl

Thanks for the help.
I'll try to answer a couple of the questions posed.

She has had two maternity leaves close together. The first she received contributions from work the second she didn't. As a result there would be nothing to pay back, this has been checked.

If we can avoid it we would rather she did not have to work. We have 4 children of different ages. This means we would have to use different child mineders, it would not be worth it financially.

As for tax credits, I work full time.