ESA Permitted Earnings

Confuseddot

The earnings limit is 115.50 does anyone know what happens if you earn more than that does it come off your ESA or does it make ESA stop ?

epitome

If the claimant earns more than 115.50 a week, the ESA claim closes down.

Confuseddot

epitome wrote: »

If the claimant earns more than 115.50 a week, the ESA claim closes down.

Thanks my friend has found a job that is 15.5 hours and thought all was good and i just found out now she will be earning 116 a week. So looks like she will need to turn it down. She had a nightmare finding a job under 16 hours and now the pay is too much

pmlindyloo

Confuseddot wrote: »

Thanks my friend has found a job that is 15.5 hours and thought all was good and i just found out now she will be earning 116 a week. So looks like she will need to turn it down. She had a nightmare finding a job under 16 hours and now the pay is too much

Could she ask the employer if they would consider her doing 15 hrs a week. This would take her below the limit.

TELLIT01

If she is claiming ESA she must get Permitted Work clearance before taking on a job, irrespective of the number of hours worked.

fishybusiness

She had a nightmare finding a job under 16 hours and now the pay is too much

Why is it too much?

TELLIT01

fishybusiness wrote: »

Why is it too much?

If you read the OP's follow up post you will see that the job will pay just 50p per week above the upper earnings limit forPermitted Work on ESA. In effect that 50p will cost her at least £73 per week in loss of ESA.

pmlindyloo

Permitted work was set up to give people a chance to get back into work when they had disabilities which might prevent them from getting a job - a chance to try and see without losing their benefits. Starting a job under these circumstances without this safeguard could cause problems with then reapplying and having benefits stopped for a time.

I have to agree that this can be abused. There is no such thing as Permitted Work under Universal Credit.

fishybusiness

If you read the OP's follow up post you will see that the job will pay just 50p per week above the upper earnings limit forPermitted Work on ESA. In effect that 50p will cost her at least £73 per week in loss of ESA.

So if she can do the hours, great off the ESA and in to the world of work.

The fact that the person 'loses money' is not a valid argument, sure living standards may drop, but that is then a working person, and capable of it, obviously, so ESA should be dropped.

The country has gone mad with the debate of what is 'lost' when coming off benefits, we should be focusing on the gains.

nannytone_2

fishybusiness wrote: »

So if she can do the hours, great off the ESA and in to the world of work.

The fact that the person 'loses money' is not a valid argument, sure living standards may drop, but that is then a working person, and capable of it, obviously, so ESA should be dropped.

The country has gone mad with the debate of what is 'lost' when coming off benefits, we should be focusing on the gains.

ESA is for sick/disabled people.

this means they have a limited ability to work.
permitted work allows them to try a phased return to work whilst still being able to live.

they may not be able to manage more than 16 hours EVER, but you would like them to be forced to live on a possible £115 a week by cutting off their ESA?

you really are priceless.
i wish everyone was as considerate and caring about the ill/disabled as you obviously are

fishybusiness

Yes I agree ESA is for sick and disabled people, and the OP hasn't given any indication of the circumstances of the claimant.

If someone can work 15.5 hours, maybe, just maybe they can work more, with a phased in work plan.

What is the incentive to do that? There is none, the system is broken.

That's not my fault.

Also, ESA is there to support those that find themselves sick and need shorter term support, again we don't know the circumstances of the claimant.

they may not be able to manage more than 16 hours EVER

But they may, glass half empty, half full scenario.

you would like them to be forced to live on a possible £115 a week by cutting off their ESA?

No, but if a claimant is capable of returning to gainful employment, taper the ESA with a goal of ceasing it.

i wish everyone was as considerate and caring about the ill/disabled as you obviously are

I don't think you mean that!!

Just for the record my partner is an ex ESA claimant - she is ASD, I am ex PIP, claimed whilst unable to work due to stem cell transplants and recovery. We took a large income drop going back to work.

So I know what it is like, I know some of the pitfalls, and the effects of claiming benefits, and I also know the effort it takes to get working again.

It is an immense change, and takes a great deal of getting used to again. Entirely worth it.