UNIVERSAL CREDIT MINIMUM WORKING HOURS OR INCOME

Lessormore

Hoping someone can help clarify.

My partner and I plan to make a claim for Universal Credit. Partner is severely disabled with substantial care needs. He has a team of Support Workers Mon to Fri between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm. I provide all the care he needs in the evenings and weekend. The care arrangements that are in place work very well for my partner.

I want to work but, to maintain my health and wellbeing, I will need one day in the week when I’m not working or providing care between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm. I would like to work four days per week.

To receive Universal Credit, is there a minimum number of hours that I will be expected to be available for work and/or a minimum income that I will be expected to earn? My partner will never be able to work and will always have substantial care needs that I can manage to provide in the evenings and weekends. 

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.

Spoonie_Turtle

Lessormore said:

Hoping someone can help clarify.

My partner and I plan to make a claim for Universal Credit. Partner is severely disabled with substantial care needs. He has a team of Support Workers Mon to Fri between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm. I provide all the care he needs in the evenings and weekend. The care arrangements that are in place work very well for my partner.

I want to work but, to maintain my health and wellbeing, I will need one day in the week when I’m not working or providing care between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm. I would like to work four days per week.

To receive Universal Credit, is there a minimum number of hours that I will be expected to be available for work and/or a minimum income that I will be expected to earn? My partner will never be able to work and will always have substantial care needs that I can manage to provide in the evenings and weekends. 

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.

If your caring responsibilities for him are 35hrs/week or more then you can claim the carers element and there will be no work expectations on you.
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Claimant-Commitment-Conditionality#caring

Lessormore

Hi Spoonie-Turtle

That was quick! Thank you for replying. I don't provide 35 hours per week care. I actually want to work, just not full-time. 

calcotti

The normal expectation is that you seek work for 35 hours/week. However the work coach can, and should, amend the requirements to take account of your circumstances.

You said

Lessormore said: I don't provide 35 hours per week care. I actually want to work, just not full-time. 

but you previously said:

 I provide all the care he needs in the evenings and weekend. 

which suggests that you do provide more than 35 hours/week. Caring for someone can include just keeping an eye on them.

If you claim the carer element of UC (you do not need to claim Carer's Allowance and cannot do so if you earn more than £128/week in any case) then you will have no work requirements and can do whatever you wish.

Spoonie_Turtle

calcotti said:

The normal expectation is that you seek work for 35 hours/week. However the work coach can, and should, amend the requirements to take account of your circumstances.

You said

Lessormore said: I don't provide 35 hours per week care. I actually want to work, just not full-time. 

but you previously said:

 I provide all the care he needs in the evenings and weekend. 

which suggests that you do provide more than 35 hours/week. Caring for someone can include just keeping an eye on them.

If you claim the carer element of UC (you do not need to claim Carer's Allowance and cannot do so if you earn more than £128/week in any case) then you will have no work requirements and can do whatever you wish.

Just to be clear, OP, this does mean you can work however much or little you want.  There are no earnings or hour restrictions with the carer element (or any element of UC, it doesn't work that way).

If you were absolutely adamant that you really don't provide care for 35hours a week (which seems unlikely to be the case, as you describe your partner as having substantial care needs requiring a team of support workers during the day; presumably his care needs don't significantly diminish just because the SW team are off the clock) then this page might help https://www.uc-advice.co.uk/further-universal-credit-information/conditionality-regime
Realistically the Light Touch Regime means they would leave you alone if you earned (currently) £552 or more in an assessment period. 

But, as you can probably tell, based on the part of your post calcotti quoted above, I would strongly advise you to consider claiming the carer element and I don't think I'm alone in that   we are here to help people understand how benefits work so they can get their entitlement, no more, no less. 

calcotti

Spoonie_Turtle said: Just to be clear, OP, this does mean you can work however much or little you want.  There are no earnings or hour restrictions with the carer element (or any element of UC, it doesn't work that way).

Thanks spoonie, I can see that I didn't phrase my post very clearly.

Spoonie_Turtle said:// I would strongly advise you to consider claiming the carer element 

Absolutely.

born_again

Well a weekend is 48 hours. So you exceed the carer requirement there. Never mind counting all the evenings & nights.

Sure it's only £67 ish a week. But it all helps.

I would say if you provide the amount of care you do then 2 days a week would be enough. Why not volunteer somewhere for a couple of days if money is not the reason you are wanting to work, more just for a break & a change. Which I can fully understand. 👍

poppy12345

born_again said:

Sure it's only £67 ish a week. But it all helps.

For Carers Allowance yes but carers element of UC is £163.73 per month, which is about £37 per week.

Lessormore

Spoonie_Turtle, calcotti, born_again and poppy12345

I owe you all a drink!

Maybe I provide more than 35 hours care per week? Before the team of Support Workers started, I undoubtedly did twice this and then some more again. I did that for years. In fact, for endless months I provided 24/7 care.

My partner has a significant brain injury and he’s epileptic. He has severe cognitive impairment and significant communication difficulties. He’s highly vulnerable and lacks capacity to make decisions about where he lives or what medical and social care he receives. He’s unable to go out on his own unaccompanied. That would be far too dangerous. If he were not with me then he would need to live in residential care. If it were an emergency then (at an absolute push) he might manage to stay on his own overnight. But that really would have to be an emergency. And only for one night. And it would not at all be a good idea.

Support Workers (one at a time) arrive at 9.00 am Mon to Fri and they’re with him until 1.30 pm. They’re always out and about and my partner is rarely at home during the day. Prior to the pandemic he attended (with his Support Worker) several groups for adults who have suffered brain injury. He can be on his own for an hour or so after lunch when he will sleep due to fatigue (because of brain injury). A different Support Worker then comes at 3.00 pm and they’re with him until 6.00 pm.

If a Support Worker is not available (which for good reasons can happen fairly regularly) then I ensure that I am. My partner cannot be at home alone unsupported over a morning or afternoon. Every now and again I can arrange to meet a friend for a drink so long as I return home (at a push) by 8.30 pm. I have to prioritise my partner’s needs over mine.

On a weekend, I provide care from (say) 8.00 am. I do what his Support Workers do Monday to Friday until 6.00 pm. We’ve been together for 23 years. I hate to say this but on Saturdays and Sundays it can feel like work. Anticipating his care needs. Managing challenging behaviour. Continually reassuring and minimising distress (my partner can get distressed in an instant several times during the day).

I make decisions what he eats, where we go, what we do. And when. I include him as much as possible in making these decisions but his brain is unable to process, for example, what he would like to eat. I don’t ask. That would cause him to become distressed. I choose. Every time. In a restaurant he cannot read and understand the menu and he cannot wait to be served. I make sure to have fruit available for him when his meal is being cooked.

I’m 59 years old. I want to work. Not just to earn an income (which I need to) but to make a life beyond my partner. Like we had before his brain injury. I will always want to be with my partner. He is the one. But I don’t feel working 35 hours per week fits with my circumstances.

Thank you all again for replying. It looks like maybe I do provide more than 35 hours care per week. Hopefully meaning that I could work 24 hours per week, if not 28.

Alice_Holt

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/carer-disability-benefits/included-in-the-35-hour-rule-31067

Lessormore

Alice_Holt

Thank you. That is such a helpful link. I think I must provide more than 35 hours care per week. Probably because it's so well planned (it has to be because of my partner's needs) and it now comes second nature to me, I don't fully appreciate just how much care I provide and how relentless it is.