Starting work and impact on benefits

astronautoreo

Thanks for all your replies. 

I will be logging onto the system on 1 February 2023 to report my change in circumstances that I am now employed. I will be continuing a small amount of self employment on an ongoing basis.

I was never classified as 'gainfully self employed' unfortunately. They said I needed to be earning significantly more. There's a gap between the minimum to have the Benefits Cap removed, and the minimum to be 'gainfully self employed' and I fell between that.

I do not have 9 months of earnings above the Benefits Cap minimum. My claim itself started end June 2022, so I have had 6 payments. From end of September I was able to increase my earnings enough to be out of the Benefits Cap. So that leeway rule won't apply to me.

HillStreetBlues

astronautoreo said:

Thanks for all your replies. 

I will be logging onto the system on 1 February 2023 to report my change in circumstances that I am now employed. I will be continuing a small amount of self employment on an ongoing basis.

I was never classified as 'gainfully self employed' unfortunately. They said I needed to be earning significantly more. There's a gap between the minimum to have the Benefits Cap removed, and the minimum to be 'gainfully self employed' and I fell between that.

I do not have 9 months of earnings above the Benefits Cap minimum. My claim itself started end June 2022, so I have had 6 payments. From end of September I was able to increase my earnings enough to be out of the Benefits Cap. So that leeway rule won't apply to me.

Thanks for the follow up.
Have you got a back up plan if your March UC payment isn't enough?
Hope the new job  works out well for you.

astronautoreo

At the Job Centre, they told me to report my change of circumstances once I start employment. They said I still need to attend fortnightly appointments until I actually get paid, which will be (as I said I'm assuming the payroll dates) will be end of February. They said there is  no change on the system for me until I get paid.

They said if they offer me an appointment when I'm working I can reply and explain this. I will literally have no capacity to attend fortnightly appointments once I start employed work. I will be either working, or fulfilling my caring responsibilities. I can make time for the important Gateway intervention appointment mentioned, but not fortnightly appointments, as my schedule is literally back to back full time with only about 3 hours free each week. 

So as they said they won't change the system until I get paid, I am still confused as to what happens given that I get paid 2 days after the end of my assessment period. Does anyone know?

One thought I have just had is that perhaps I wait a couple of days after the end of my assessment period on 26 February, and then phone the UC helpline on 1 March. My payment date is usually 2nd of the month. So perhaps if I don't complete the 'report your income' form on time (I normally always complete it immediately to avoid payment delays), would I have more of a chance they can calculate my payment for that assessment period correctly? 

However I would really like to know if anyone knows clearly if they will then remove the Benefits Cap due to my employed work. Because otherwise I will as I say just invoice early for self employed work that I will be completing in March and April, so that I can earn enough in February to be able to report I earned above the minimum for the Benefits Cap. I would just rather avoid this if I can as it makes things messy.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thank you so much.

astronautoreo

HillStreetBlues said:

astronautoreo said:

Thanks for all your replies. 

I will be logging onto the system on 1 February 2023 to report my change in circumstances that I am now employed. I will be continuing a small amount of self employment on an ongoing basis.

I was never classified as 'gainfully self employed' unfortunately. They said I needed to be earning significantly more. There's a gap between the minimum to have the Benefits Cap removed, and the minimum to be 'gainfully self employed' and I fell between that.

I do not have 9 months of earnings above the Benefits Cap minimum. My claim itself started end June 2022, so I have had 6 payments. From end of September I was able to increase my earnings enough to be out of the Benefits Cap. So that leeway rule won't apply to me.

Thanks for the follow up.
Have you got a back up plan if your March UC payment isn't enough?
Hope the new job  works out well for you.

Thanks for your warm wishes. That is far more than the Job Centre have given me. I was very surprised to not get so much as anything close to a 'congratulations' when I informed them I had got a job. I'm tough enough to not care, but it was harsh of them in my opinion....

Anyway, I can ask my sister to loan me some money. If they apply the Benefits Cap for my payment on 2 March, then that combined with my earnings will just about cover my rent and bills but maybe not food. So I'll need to borrow some money. But it seems unfair if they apply the Benefits Cap given that I would have been working almost the whole of the assessment period.

astronautoreo

HillStreetBlues said:

calcotti said:

Clearly claimants can report self employment and be in employment. Some people do both alongside each other.

But clearly both need reporting, as OP was just going to declare the SE

Sorry if that was unclear in my posts but I was always going to report the employment. I had already tried on the system to do so as soon as I got the job, and that's how I know that I can't report the change until I start work. I did leave a journal note though to inform my Work Coach as soon as I got the job, and also kept her updated of my start date once that was confirmed.

HillStreetBlues

astronautoreo said:

Thanks for your warm wishes. That is far more than the Job Centre have given me. I was very surprised to not get so much as anything close to a 'congratulations' when I informed them I had got a job. I'm tough enough to not care, but it was harsh of them in my opinion....

I do agree

Anyway, I can ask my sister to loan me some money. If they apply the Benefits Cap for my payment on 2 March, then that combined with my earnings will just about cover my rent and bills but maybe not food. So I'll need to borrow some money. But it seems unfair if they apply the Benefits Cap given that I would have been working almost the whole of the assessment period.

Sorry to hear about the food
Could you get a Budgeting Advance as getting a job should cover a reason

HillStreetBlues

astronautoreo said:

Sorry if that was unclear in my posts but I was always going to report the employment. I had already tried on the system to do so as soon as I got the job, and that's how I know that I can't report the change until I start work. I did leave a journal note though to inform my Work Coach as soon as I got the job, and also kept her updated of my start date once that was confirmed.

Sorry if my post came across that that you were trying that.

astronautoreo

HillStreetBlues said:

astronautoreo said:

Sorry if that was unclear in my posts but I was always going to report the employment. I had already tried on the system to do so as soon as I got the job, and that's how I know that I can't report the change until I start work. I did leave a journal note though to inform my Work Coach as soon as I got the job, and also kept her updated of my start date once that was confirmed.

Sorry if my post came across that that you were trying that.

No worries and thank you so much for all the helpful advice. This group is really amazing and most people on here know more than the staff at the Job Centre! I learned a lot from this group (stuff that I would have thought the Job Centre would have told me!) and that has been incredibly helpful on this difficult journey I have been on.

astronautoreo

I will think about a Budgeting Advance. I just don't want to have future UC payments reduced significantly, as I will already be a low wage earner as it is. It still seems wrong that I would have the Benefits Cap applied for the month of February though. And I'm still not clear if they will do that, because common sense tells me that just doesn't make sense! Does anyone know? If they don't apply the Benefits Cap I will have enough for that month.

HillStreetBlues

Did you check the grace period others advised ?