Universal Credit - Redundancy

KCJA1989

Hi all,

I was recently made redundant from my job (a retail position, company have went under, 12,500 job losses - you can probably guess). I had worked for the company in two separate stints, the most recent of which for over 5 years. The store closed on 17/09/2023, our last shift was 18/09/2023 and our leaving date was given as 19/09/2023. 

I reported a change of circumstance to Universal Credit on the 19th, informing them that this was my given leaving date. I was asked to declare my expectant earnings for the next month (I estimated this, the information we have been given was vague), along with all of the other information required.

We have been told that all of the documentation we need to claim the redundancy pay will be here within the week. My understanding is that redundancy pay is a one off payment and will be treated as capital I.e. not means tested for benefits.

In addition, we have been told that we will be on receipt of "notice pay". I was not familiar with this concept until recently. My understanding, and, again, bear with me because I am sure you all know far me than me, is that because the company has closed, I will be paid through a notice period for one week per year (in my case, 5 weeks). I can claim this, I think, after my redundancy pay. I am unclear what this means for my Universal Credit claim. I have stated that I am unemployed as of 19/09/2023, though I obviously still have a notice period of 5 weeks paid to receive - I thought it was best to report the change, I'm assuming this was the right decision. 

Also, I'm unsure of whether it is best to search for work at the moment or following the notice period. I haven't heard anything from Universal Credit yet, I don't know what they would expect from me at this time. My wife works part time, I'm not sure what the current situation with AET/CET and all regulations are. 

It's just been a very confusing and unsettling time, we've also had a family bereavement to contend with, everything comes at once! 

I'm sure there are more questions that I'm missing but that's plenty of information for now, probably too much! If anybody could offer any insight it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. 

Brie

First off - really feeling for you as redundancy is very often a blow.  Add the family things as well and it can be overwhelming.

Secondly - don't wait to start job searching.  Getting a job generally takes weeks so the sooner you start the better.  On the plus here given the time of year lots of shops are looking to hire for Christmas at least.  And as far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop you from starting work asap and continue to get paid certainly your redundancy amount and likely also the other money they say is coming.  holiday pay definitely.  But do check on the notice pay.

Check also if there's any job search assistance on offer via the redundancy as some companies do that too - good to have someone have a look at your cv, make suggestions for expanding your field of search etc.  

Best of luck - sorry I can't help on any of the actual UC bits.

KCJA1989

Brie said:

First off - really feeling for you as redundancy is very often a blow.  Add the family things as well and it can be overwhelming.

Secondly - don't wait to start job searching.  Getting a job generally takes weeks so the sooner you start the better.  On the plus here given the time of year lots of shops are looking to hire for Christmas at least.  And as far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop you from starting work asap and continue to get paid certainly your redundancy amount and likely also the other money they say is coming.  holiday pay definitely.  But do check on the notice pay.

Check also if there's any job search assistance on offer via the redundancy as some companies do that too - good to have someone have a look at your cv, make suggestions for expanding your field of search etc.  

Best of luck - sorry I can't help on any of the actual UC bits.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate that.

My understanding on the notice pay is that while I will be in receipt of that, it will go against any earnings/benefits I receive I.e. if I were to get a job today on the same income as I previously received, the notice pay would be wiped out by the new income, and if not working, the notice pay would be used as earnings against the Universal Credit taper. Again, I'm sure there are people on here far more clued up on these matters that could confirm/correct this. If I'm in receipt of notice pay, is it worth working during this period? I'm unsure of that, plus unsure of whether I would need to be actively seeking work during this period - nothing from Universal Credit so far.

I've already been in touch with employment services regarding a CVs, cover letters, all kinds of employment and training. They were great and I have every intention of finding work, just unsure on the timescale. 

Thanks again. 

Spoonie_Turtle

KCJA1989 said:

Brie said:

First off - really feeling for you as redundancy is very often a blow.  Add the family things as well and it can be overwhelming.

Secondly - don't wait to start job searching.  Getting a job generally takes weeks so the sooner you start the better.  On the plus here given the time of year lots of shops are looking to hire for Christmas at least.  And as far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop you from starting work asap and continue to get paid certainly your redundancy amount and likely also the other money they say is coming.  holiday pay definitely.  But do check on the notice pay.

Check also if there's any job search assistance on offer via the redundancy as some companies do that too - good to have someone have a look at your cv, make suggestions for expanding your field of search etc.  

Best of luck - sorry I can't help on any of the actual UC bits.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate that.

My understanding on the notice pay is that while I will be in receipt of that, it will go against any earnings/benefits I receive I.e. if I were to get a job today on the same income as I previously received, the notice pay would be wiped out by the new income, and if not working, the notice pay would be used as earnings against the Universal Credit taper. Again, I'm sure there are people on here far more clued up on these matters that could confirm/correct this. If I'm in receipt of notice pay, is it worth working during this period? I'm unsure of that, plus unsure of whether I would need to be actively seeking work during this period - nothing from Universal Credit so far.

I've already been in touch with employment services regarding a CVs, cover letters, all kinds of employment and training. They were great and I have every intention of finding work, just unsure on the timescale. 

Thanks again. 

Job search requirements are based on earnings in an assessment period, so I wouldn't expect you to have mandatory appointments until after you've had all your pay.

It is good to be putting feelers out / starting to search at your own pace without Jobcentre pressure though, if you can despite the family issues.  Which, depending on what those are, you might be able to get some discretion on your job search requirements too.

In terms of the earnings, yes the more you receive the more deductions will be taken from your UC.  I'm not sure about redundancy pay.  But if the extra notice pay reduces your UC to nil your claim will resume as normal the next assessment period, so no worries about that.  Just log in after the payment date and it should all still be there.

KCJA1989

Spoonie_Turtle said:

KCJA1989 said:

Brie said:

First off - really feeling for you as redundancy is very often a blow.  Add the family things as well and it can be overwhelming.

Secondly - don't wait to start job searching.  Getting a job generally takes weeks so the sooner you start the better.  On the plus here given the time of year lots of shops are looking to hire for Christmas at least.  And as far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop you from starting work asap and continue to get paid certainly your redundancy amount and likely also the other money they say is coming.  holiday pay definitely.  But do check on the notice pay.

Check also if there's any job search assistance on offer via the redundancy as some companies do that too - good to have someone have a look at your cv, make suggestions for expanding your field of search etc.  

Best of luck - sorry I can't help on any of the actual UC bits.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate that.

My understanding on the notice pay is that while I will be in receipt of that, it will go against any earnings/benefits I receive I.e. if I were to get a job today on the same income as I previously received, the notice pay would be wiped out by the new income, and if not working, the notice pay would be used as earnings against the Universal Credit taper. Again, I'm sure there are people on here far more clued up on these matters that could confirm/correct this. If I'm in receipt of notice pay, is it worth working during this period? I'm unsure of that, plus unsure of whether I would need to be actively seeking work during this period - nothing from Universal Credit so far.

I've already been in touch with employment services regarding a CVs, cover letters, all kinds of employment and training. They were great and I have every intention of finding work, just unsure on the timescale. 

Thanks again. 

Job search requirements are based on earnings in an assessment period, so I wouldn't expect you to have mandatory appointments until after you've had all your pay.

It is good to be putting feelers out / starting to search at your own pace without Jobcentre pressure though, if you can despite the family issues.  Which, depending on what those are, you might be able to get some discretion on your job search requirements too.

In terms of the earnings, yes the more you receive the more deductions will be taken from your UC.  I'm not sure about redundancy pay.  But if the extra notice pay reduces your UC to nil your claim will resume as normal the next assessment period, so no worries about that.  Just log in after the payment date and it should all still be there.

Thanks for the reply. 

It has been a hard time for us, but I wouldn't want or need to use the circumstances to gain discretion. I have no issues with work, this is the first time I've been unemployed in decade, just weighing up whether it's worth jumping back into employment whilst in receipt of notice pay. I'm also fairly certain that the level of notice pay won't result in a nil claim, won't be that much!

As I've said previously, I've made a start with employment firms and am keeping an eye on local jobs. I was under the impression that I would be required to be actively looking for work the next day but, as of yet, I've heard nothing - as you say, that could be because I'm still in receipt of pay. 

Would it be beneficial to leave a message on the journal explaining the circumstances? Should I have reported the change - I think I've done the right thing? Also, does anybody have the information on current AET/CET and light touch etc.? 

Spoonie_Turtle

KCJA1989 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

KCJA1989 said:

Brie said:

First off - really feeling for you as redundancy is very often a blow.  Add the family things as well and it can be overwhelming.

Secondly - don't wait to start job searching.  Getting a job generally takes weeks so the sooner you start the better.  On the plus here given the time of year lots of shops are looking to hire for Christmas at least.  And as far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop you from starting work asap and continue to get paid certainly your redundancy amount and likely also the other money they say is coming.  holiday pay definitely.  But do check on the notice pay.

Check also if there's any job search assistance on offer via the redundancy as some companies do that too - good to have someone have a look at your cv, make suggestions for expanding your field of search etc.  

Best of luck - sorry I can't help on any of the actual UC bits.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate that.

My understanding on the notice pay is that while I will be in receipt of that, it will go against any earnings/benefits I receive I.e. if I were to get a job today on the same income as I previously received, the notice pay would be wiped out by the new income, and if not working, the notice pay would be used as earnings against the Universal Credit taper. Again, I'm sure there are people on here far more clued up on these matters that could confirm/correct this. If I'm in receipt of notice pay, is it worth working during this period? I'm unsure of that, plus unsure of whether I would need to be actively seeking work during this period - nothing from Universal Credit so far.

I've already been in touch with employment services regarding a CVs, cover letters, all kinds of employment and training. They were great and I have every intention of finding work, just unsure on the timescale. 

Thanks again. 

Job search requirements are based on earnings in an assessment period, so I wouldn't expect you to have mandatory appointments until after you've had all your pay.

It is good to be putting feelers out / starting to search at your own pace without Jobcentre pressure though, if you can despite the family issues.  Which, depending on what those are, you might be able to get some discretion on your job search requirements too.

In terms of the earnings, yes the more you receive the more deductions will be taken from your UC.  I'm not sure about redundancy pay.  But if the extra notice pay reduces your UC to nil your claim will resume as normal the next assessment period, so no worries about that.  Just log in after the payment date and it should all still be there.

Would it be beneficial to leave a message on the journal explaining the circumstances? Should I have reported the change - I think I've done the right thing? Also, does anybody have the information on current AET/CET and light touch etc.? 

I can only answer this one question, unfortunately, but yes you've done the right thing by reporting the change when it happened.

Yamor

As mentioned above, the redundancy pay should not count as income. However, it is not unheard of for UC to include it (often due to the employer misreporting it), so be sure to check this.

The notice pay will count as income in the APs in which it is received, regardless of employment status.

The AET for a couple is currently £1,083 and £677 for a single person. So, as long as you have earnings over £677 in any AP, or the two of you between you have £1,083 of earnings, then you should be in light touch (assuming you are not a carer, do not have LCW/LCWRA, and are not the main carer for a child under the age of 3).
Even those in the light touch regime will soon start finding that they will still be called in for appointments, however.
The light touch thresholds are expected to go up later this year to £812 and £1,309, and the couple’s threshold is expected to be removed at some point next year.

The CET will depend on your expected hours, and your wife’s expected hours.

KCJA1989

Yamor said:

As mentioned above, the redundancy pay should not count as income. However, it is not unheard of for UC to include it (often due to the employer misreporting it), so be sure to check this.

The notice pay will count as income in the APs in which it is received, regardless of employment status.

The AET for a couple is currently £1,083 and £677 for a single person. So, as long as you have earnings over £677 in any AP, or the two of you between you have £1,083 of earnings, then you should be in light touch (assuming you are not a carer, do not have LCW/LCWRA, and are not the main carer for a child under the age of 3).
Even those in the light touch regime will soon start finding that they will still be called in for appointments, however.
The light touch thresholds are expected to go up later this year to £812 and £1,309, and the couple’s threshold is expected to be removed at some point next year.

The CET will depend on your expected hours, and your wife’s expected hours.

Thanks for all the information, Yamor!

I would hope there isn't confusion over the redundancy pay. I would assume this won't go on a payslip, but have received no information on this. 

Thanks for clarifying the notice pay situation - I had presumed this was the case.

I had heard bits about the couple element being removed - wasn't sure if this had already happened or not, thanks for clearing that up. My wife's earnings are currently above the AET threshold, although likely wouldn't be on the proposed new amounts. We aren't in any of the aforementioned groups, either. Is there a timescale for when the changes (light touch being called in for appointments, threshold increases, couple element removal) are to be implemented?

Thanks again for all the advice thus far.

Yamor

Unfortunately no clear timescales. Best I can offer is:
1) conditionality for light touch was supposed to start being rolled out over the UK starting in Sep, but to the best of my knowledge has not begun yet.
2) threshold increase was scheduled for “Autumn” this year.
3) removal of couple threshold seems to be scheduled only for the next tax year, so not before April 2024.

KCJA1989

Yamor said:

Unfortunately no clear timescales. Best I can offer is:
1) conditionality for light touch was supposed to start being rolled out over the UK starting in Sep, but to the best of my knowledge has not begun yet.
2) threshold increase was scheduled for “Autumn” this year.
3) removal of couple threshold seems to be scheduled only for the next tax year, so not before April 2024.

No problem, thanks for letting me know. I guess we can just wait and see if anything happens. 

KCJA1989

Does anybody have any advice on whether or not it would be a good idea to contact Universal Credit to explain the situation? I'm in two minds over whether to leave it as is or drop them a message regarding the variables (redundancy pay, notice pay, estimated earnings).

Thanks.