AET for Light Touch £1437 net or gross

NedS

alchemist777 said:

@NedS -Nope, I have my 2nd appointment scheduled in November, so still, no changes implemented.

@alchemist777 the fix only went live on 30th October and will not act retrospectively, so I would not expect it to affect you this AP. The test for you will be at the end of the next AP on 24th November.

jordana24x

Hi everybody
After reading all the responses on here I thought I'd let you all know my predicament!
Me and my partner are on a joint claim and have been told our AET is £1437. My partner was working 25 hours so he upped them to 30 hours and his gross pay is now £1440. This was back in July so after the assignment period and UC seeing our hours and pay had increased, all appointments and having a work plan stopped. Yesterday I have had a message saying that I'm required to go in for a commitment and work search appointment with UC. When I asked why, I was told that we are earning less that is required and is under the AET required amount  Of course I messaged back and said our gross pay is £1440 and we are not under and she replied that his earrings have been reported back at considerably lower and we are bellow the AET threshold. She has actually quoted our net pay, after tax, national insurance and pension is deducted...I wrote back and said that it should be decided on gross pay and she replied with a definition of what ' net pay ' is and that was that. It was a very patronising reply and I'm still none the wiser! It says on the  Citizens Advice Website that the requirement to look for work or increase work hours is decided by the AET threshold and that is calculated on 'gross' pay not net as the UC adviser as said! Am I withen my right to contest this or is she right and if she is right is all the other information I'm reading wrong!??

huckster

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-earnings

The UC system does look at gross earnings and decides which work group is allocate.  Job Centres have to go with what the system indicates and you will have to attend appointment.

There could be other factors in this and without going into exact information, it is not possible to identify whether UC system has made an error.

jordana24x

It's just so hard to come to any conclusion with this issue because there's so much inconsistency...Im now reading that pension payments come off youre gross earrings and UC look at the figure after this deduction so in theroy I am under the AET, but then I've read that the AET should be determined before any deductions of tax, national insurance AND pensions so im.ABOVE the AET!!!
 I'm still non the wiser!!

TheShape

jordana24x said:

It's just so hard to come to any conclusion with this issue because there's so much inconsistency...Im now reading that pension payments come off youre gross earrings and UC look at the figure after this deduction so in theroy I am under the AET, but then I've read that the AET should be determined before any deductions of tax, national insurance AND pensions so im.ABOVE the AET!!!
 I'm still non the wiser!!

What you need to find out is whatever is showing  (within the Assessment period) in Searchlight which is the system that will show your earnings.  That will show your gross earnings.  

You first need to know what your employer has reported, and when.

A Work Coach may very well just be looking at your statement and noting the Net pay.

huckster

There is also something in legislation about 3 month averaging of earnings, where they have been variable. It may depend on whether pay is weekly, fortnightly, 4 weekly and what falls within AP.  UC system is calculating whether the gross pay in an AP is at or exceeding AET when looking at more than just what is showing in one AP.  

By looking at the 3 month average it is judging whether the claimant is genuinely earning at least 18 hours at national minimum wage. 

jordana24x

Well just an update to add.....
I went to my appointment today and I asked my work coach why I'd been called in and apparently my gross pay is reduced when they take my pension payment out, something about its not taxable pay, anyway after the deduction of the pension that's the figure they go on to decide whether im above or bellow the AET. Well im £39 bellow the AET after the pension deduction but luckily my partner has increased his hours so by my next assessment period we will be above the AET after the pension deduction. 
Hope this helps!

alchemist777

jordana24x said:

Hi everybody
After reading all the responses on here I thought I'd let you all know my predicament!
Me and my partner are on a joint claim and have been told our AET is £1437. My partner was working 25 hours so he upped them to 30 hours and his gross pay is now £1440. This was back in July so after the assignment period and UC seeing our hours and pay had increased, all appointments and having a work plan stopped. Yesterday I have had a message saying that I'm required to go in for a commitment and work search appointment with UC. When I asked why, I was told that we are earning less that is required and is under the AET required amount  Of course I messaged back and said our gross pay is £1440 and we are not under and she replied that his earrings have been reported back at considerably lower and we are bellow the AET threshold. She has actually quoted our net pay, after tax, national insurance and pension is deducted...I wrote back and said that it should be decided on gross pay and she replied with a definition of what ' net pay ' is and that was that. It was a very patronising reply and I'm still none the wiser! It says on the  Citizens Advice Website that the requirement to look for work or increase work hours is decided by the AET threshold and that is calculated on 'gross' pay not net as the UC adviser as said! Am I withen my right to contest this or is she right and if she is right is all the other information I'm reading wrong!??

For work search groups, AET is gross. Please read through the thread and follow the advice given previously.

michaels

jordana24x said:

Well just an update to add.....
I went to my appointment today and I asked my work coach why I'd been called in and apparently my gross pay is reduced when they take my pension payment out, something about its not taxable pay, anyway after the deduction of the pension that's the figure they go on to decide whether im above or bellow the AET. Well im £39 bellow the AET after the pension deduction but luckily my partner has increased his hours so by my next assessment period we will be above the AET after the pension deduction. 
Hope this helps!

The general consensus is that whilst that is what they do do (look at pay after pension deductions) the legislation says they should look at gross pay before pension deductions.  Getting them to understand and correct this is problematical.