Temporary zero hour contract...is it worth it?

jackieD63_2

I was made redundant last November and I'm currently claiming Universal Credit.
I now have an opportunity to work but it's temporary ongoing and a zero hour contract. My colleague recommended me for the job and she is making good money, but she also has a partner who earns good money too so she has something to fall back on.
I really want to take the job but people have told me it's not worth doing.
 Any advice would be much appreciated 😊

BrassicWoman

Which "people" and is their opinion informed by any actual facts, or just an opinion?

jonnygee2

You are unemployed and you've been offered a job.
Seems you have nothing to lose? What is that you are afraid of happening?

[Deleted User]

I took a zero-hours job last June (hoped it wasn't in a way and that the manager who interviewed me was sorely wrong but no)
I never got the opportunity to turn down shifts - it was summer and holidays of other staff. 
I was paid nearly 30p more then the £8.21 jobs around at the time.
I worked in hotel which involved shift and weekend work so whilst receiving more then UC could provide, and when I realised I wouldn't really like a permanent job there, it was ideal for gaining other interviews and not put in the position of potentially calling in sick or it being tricky when it came to attending other interviews you could say.
You can only go one way - up.
If the job offers aren't coming in, 6 months of presumably trying, you've nothing to lose?

Sharon87

0 hour contracts in my opinion are stupid, but it's a job and you haven't worked for a while. I would take it and if you're not getting as much work as planned, continue looking for another job. I worked at a cinema 'full time' on a 4 hour contract years back, and I would only get 20 or so hours most weeks - 35 on big movie releases. It was a struggle at first but I still had more money than when I was on benefits - and that was before any benefit cap. So you're likely to earn more money on a job with 0 hour contract than with nothing.

I still think the government should ban 0 hour contracts, but until that time needs must!

Marcon

Deleted User said:

I took a zero-hours job last June (hoped it wasn't in a way and that the manager who interviewed me was sorely wrong but no)
I never got the opportunity to turn down shifts - it was summer and holidays of other staff. 
I was paid nearly 30p more then the £8.21 jobs around at the time.
I worked in hotel which involved shift and weekend work so whilst receiving more then UC could provide, and when I realised I wouldn't really like a permanent job there, it was ideal for gaining other interviews and not put in the position of potentially calling in sick or it being tricky when it came to attending other interviews you could say.
You can only go one way - up.
If the job offers aren't coming in, 6 months of presumably trying, you've nothing to lose?

Is there any situation in the world of work you have never personally experienced?

Dox

jackieD63_2 said:

I was made redundant last November and I'm currently claiming Universal Credit.
I now have an opportunity to work but it's temporary ongoing and a zero hour contract. My colleague recommended me for the job and she is making good money, but she also has a partner who earns good money too so she has something to fall back on.
I really want to take the job but people have told me it's not worth doing.
 Any advice would be much appreciated 😊

Why are the opinions of strangers who know nothing about you somehow more valid than comments from these famous 'people'? As you 'really want to take the job', why are you listening to them?

silverwhistle

Have they given you any reasons as to why they think it's not worth doing?Are they comfortable financially so don't need to consider such a job? Are they wasters with the attention span of a goldfish and the long term perspective of a fruit fly? Somewhere in between. Perhaps they are considering the faff of ending a claim and then the wait starting a new one later?

Remember the old truism about it being easier to get a new job if you already have one. It's certainly easier to get a promotion!;-)

 

MinuteNoodles

Given that the UC taper is 63p for every pound you earn above the work allowance  , meaning that for every £1 you earn above that they only reduce your payment by 63p, I fail to see how you can be worse off. Because of how UC works it's also much better than how it used to work with JSA and a zero hours contract where you'd have to be continually signing on and off depending on how many hours you got a week. At least with UC they just look at your take home pay over a month and calculate the following month from that although it does mean you'll have to learn to budget so you don't end up blowing all your money in a good earning month to then end up skint in a low earning month where your UC may also be lower too.

The type of brain dead mouth breathing mongs who say it's not worth doing tend to be those who look for any reason not to work or do anything they can to keep claiming benefits. As such the standard of their lives will be dictated by how much money the government decides they'll give them to live on and they'll never get past that.

The other tired old load of rubbish I often hear is "you're only working for £1/hr" because what you earn is only say £40 a week more than if you'd sat at home on your backside on the dole doing nothing. Yeah maybe it is but that's £2000 a year they're not going to have plus additional income from a pension in retirement they'll not have and not only that it puts you in a place where there's the opportunity of promotion or moving to another company for more money or better prospects. It's much easier to find a job when you're already in work.

The kind of people you're listening to are poor and will continue to be poor while they continue to have that mindset. And don't be fooled by the standard of life they may appear to be leading as you can guarantee that much if not all of it will be on credit.

MinuteNoodles

silverwhistle said:

Perhaps they are considering the faff of ending a claim and then the wait starting a new one later?

 

The beauty of universal credit over the old JSA system is you no longer have to do that.