3 months til discharge - income and other questions

AdviceSought

So, during the first three months of my MAP period, I was in a contract role, which was part-time hours and the AiB were happy that there was no surplus, so I didn't have to make any contribution.

Now, I'm out of work again, and obviously my income will just be UC, which means no contributions required.

I'm searching for work, but there's not a lot of part-time roles going around, and I'm mindful that if I were to work full-time, my income would be well over the threshold and see me have to contribute for, potentially, 48 months.

If I were to find a few weeks full-time work and then be unemployed again, would I be contributing for the short period I was in full-time work and see it go back to 0 and then not have to contribute after discharge in May, or, would I be tied in to contributing due to a short period of going over threshold?

Other question is that I've got an employment tribunal coming up. This is due to be heard about a couple of weeks prior to my expected discharge date. Is this a problem for me?

Clouds88

The guys with the proper advice will be along in a minute but tbh if you can get by on UC I wouldn’t change until after discharge to avoid the IPA. We obviously don’t know your circumstances but if you could get a full time job once you are discharged then you end up with a fresh slate and hopefully build some savings with more of an income, just my thoughts. I wouldn’t ‘poke the bear’ if I didn’t need to.