Universal credit advice for a friend - search for work or receive sanctions

Molly56

I am looking for some advice on behalf of a friend who is currently claiming UC and works part time (16 hours a week); she has recently been advised that she needs to search for more work otherwise she will receive sanctions and is concerned that this will end up with her being made homeless; I know she struggles already even to the point where sometimes she cannot afford to eat so any sanctions will be devastating.
 

To add a few more details for context - my friend is contracted to work 16 hours per week by current employer and has requested more hours but not always available - occasionally has a few extra hours in a month but not guaranteed; current basic salary around £909 per month following recent pay rise (£866 before rise) so now above the £892 which has probably triggered current interview with work coach. 

First question…if she were able to find a few more guaranteed work hours with current employer would that take the pressure off from having to search for other work?

My friend tells me that she needs to spend 35 hours a week actively looking for work, not sure this is right but seems excessive on top of her 16 hours working….what is the usual commitment to search for other work and how are you expected to prove that you have done this?

Knowing my friend as I do I can see that she will struggle with this as she does not deal well with technology  - she just about manages to log on for Universal Credit but does not do emails and finds technology challenging. 

A couple of years ago it was suggested by a medical professional that she may be autistic but has not received an official diagnosis as such - I have asked if she has mentioned this but not sure if she has - she seems to think that they will not take this into account but personally I think that some allowance needs to be taken for this as this is part of the reason why she does the work she does and would struggle in other areas of employment. Both mentally and physically I can see her struggling if she is pushed to take alternative employment.

The autism suggestion certainly makes sense as I can see the different ways that it affects her even if she doesn’t know it herself and I can see how this will rule her out of certain types of work which would put her way outside her comfort zone. 

Have made a suggestion that I could accompany her or support her speaking to work coach but not sure if she will take me up on it - am concerned that if she doesn’t mention the issues she has then they will simply impose sanctions or expect something of her that she simply cannot do. 

I do feel that someone needs to help her and perhaps speak up for her but am at a loss as to know how exactly I can help. 

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. 

TimeLord1

Is this just a universal credit claim with no work-related activity, disabilities, or PIP ?

I guess whatever was agreed in the claimant commitment originally is what you need to find out. If they agreed to the 16 hours a week originally and nothing has changed, is the advisor pushing them to find more hours?

Spoonie_Turtle

She may be expected to do 35 hours of work/work search per week in total, but she cannot be expected to do 35 hours of work search on top of her 16 hours of work.  As autism involves communication difficulties, there is the possibility that she's misunderstood - but it is also possible something's gone wrong and the work coach has actually put that expectation for some misinformed reason. 

If you can form a thorough understanding of how it should work from members here and then accompany her to find out what exactly is going on, that would probably be very helpful.

I'm not abreast with changes to the AET and requirements, but your reasoning that she's above the threshold triggering this wouldn't make sense, if she's above the threshold less should be expected of her.

Has she maybe been paid twice in one assessment period and her wages not registered in the next?  That's the only thing I can think of (outside of other changes to be more intensive with people working part-time, which as mentioned I'm not really familiar with).

Molly56

TimeLord1 said:

Is this just a universal credit claim with no work-related activity, disabilities, or PIP ?

I guess whatever was agreed in the claimant commitment originally is what you need to find out. If they agreed to the 16 hours a week originally and nothing has changed, is the advisor pushing them to find more hours?

To my knowledge my friend has never mentioned any of her physical or mental disabilities/ limitations to Universal Credit on the basis that nothing has been officially diagnosed by her GP and she assumes nothing will be taken notice of without official proof so no additional monies such as PIP.

Up to this point she has not had to actively search for other work on the scale suggested now but she may have agreed to ask for extra hours from current employer which she has done verbally on numerous occasions. I was wondering if perhaps she should request extra hours in writing from now on and get letter from current employer in reply about availability of extra hours (or not) as a form of proof.

TimeLord1

Sounds to me that the advisor is suggesting that they look for more hours or they may face sanctions the fact they're part time I can't see that they would face sanctions. Or be required to spend 35 hours a week looking for work when currently doing 16 hours a week—that would be way above the basic requirements. Someone needs to go with them on the next review or contact the local Citizens Advice.

TheShape

The AET has now risen to £952 but that is from the Assessment period starting 07/04/2025 (I think) so your friend won't have had an assessment period with that new AET yet.

If the Claimant Commitment has not been adjusted, the requirement will be to look for work up to full-time hours.

If they can get sufficient hours with their employer to exceed £952 in monthly earnings they would move to the Light Touch work group and not currently be expected to undertake any work related activity such as attending UC appointments or searching for more work.

If they have a requirement to undertake 35 hours of work search and/or work preparation activity each week, the work coach should be reducing that requirement by the 16 hours worked (plus the travel time to/from work) and expecting, at most, the balance of time to be spent on work search and work preparation activities.

peteuk

There’s a difference between searching for and gaining the extra work.  Your friend works 16 hours a week, so therefore needs to spend 19 hours searching for work to for fill her UC requirements.  No body is going to clock watch this, this day and age a job search is a few clicks of a mouse, rather than going through the local papers etc etc.  She will self declare if she is actively seeking further employment and will be able to show this on her journal by adding jobs applied for (if any).  The only issue really comes if she were to be successful at an interview and she turns it down.  

Molly56

TheShape said:

The AET has now risen to £952 but that is from the Assessment period starting 07/04/2025 (I think) so your friend won't have had an assessment period with that new AET yet.

If the Claimant Commitment has not been adjusted, the requirement will be to look for work up to full-time hours.

If they can get sufficient hours with their employer to exceed £952 in monthly earnings they would move to the Light Touch work group and not currently be expected to undertake any work related activity such as attending UC appointments or searching for more work.

If they have a requirement to undertake 35 hours of work search and/or work preparation activity each week, the work coach should be reducing that requirement by the 16 hours worked (plus the travel time to/from work) and expecting, at most, the balance of time to be spent on work search and work preparation activities.

Some great advice, thank you. Am hoping that I can help to persuade employer to increase by a couple of hours on a permanent basis …we in fact work together doing the same hours / same job and am even considering giving her one of my hours (if allowed) as she needs it more than I do - may make the difference and tip her over the £952. Don’t want to lose her as a work colleague or a friend. 

Am I correct in thinking that if she consistently earns enough to move to Light Touch work group then her current weekly phone calls with work coach will be reduced? 

Not sure that the phone calls appointments are good as not the same as face to face…always think telephone ones are more difficult to have a proper discussion. Also as someone else mentioned part of autism traits can mean that communication is difficult…knowing her well I am used to this and know how best to communicate, others sometimes interpret how she reacts as perhaps uncooperative, for example, which may not go down well with life coach. 

Will see how it goes but hope perhaps I can persuade her to request face to face appointment and see if I can go with her…..at least that will provide an opportunity to discuss any issues properly….in the meantime just hoping she is not put on sanctions as that will make life really difficult for her. 

NedS

Molly56 said:

TheShape said:

The AET has now risen to £952 but that is from the Assessment period starting 07/04/2025 (I think) so your friend won't have had an assessment period with that new AET yet.

If the Claimant Commitment has not been adjusted, the requirement will be to look for work up to full-time hours.

If they can get sufficient hours with their employer to exceed £952 in monthly earnings they would move to the Light Touch work group and not currently be expected to undertake any work related activity such as attending UC appointments or searching for more work.

If they have a requirement to undertake 35 hours of work search and/or work preparation activity each week, the work coach should be reducing that requirement by the 16 hours worked (plus the travel time to/from work) and expecting, at most, the balance of time to be spent on work search and work preparation activities.

Some great advice, thank you. Am hoping that I can help to persuade employer to increase by a couple of hours on a permanent basis …we in fact work together doing the same hours / same job and am even considering giving her one of my hours (if allowed) as she needs it more than I do - may make the difference and tip her over the £952. Don’t want to lose her as a work colleague or a friend. 

Am I correct in thinking that if she consistently earns enough to move to Light Touch work group then her current weekly phone calls with work coach will be reduced? 

It's a black and white test each month. If the claimant has earnings over the threshold (£952) then they move into Light Touch and appointments end. If at any point monthly earnings fall back below £952 then the appointments start up again for that month, or until earnings exceed the threshold again.

Molly56

peteuk said:

There’s a difference between searching for and gaining the extra work.  Your friend works 16 hours a week, so therefore needs to spend 19 hours searching for work to for fill her UC requirements.  No body is going to clock watch this, this day and age a job search is a few clicks of a mouse, rather than going through the local papers etc etc.  She will self declare if she is actively seeking further employment and will be able to show this on her journal by adding jobs applied for (if any).  The only issue really comes if she were to be successful at an interview and she turns it down.  

Thanks for the advice. Will see what she has been asked to do and discuss. As I think I mentioned she does seem to struggle with technology  - I know she has to log on to Universal Credit which she manages just about but not sure how confident she is with journal entries…perhaps I can support her with this if she allows me to….having no first hand experience of the system itself I have no idea how easy or difficult it is. 

As another person mentioned and I have referred to in other comments, communication at times can be difficult or challenging for those on autism spectrum and I can see this in my friend. At times she can take things very literally so if a work coach says she has to job search for 19 hours this is what she will expect to do, even though this seems unrealistic to others like you and me.

Am still not sure how anyone can prove they have been looking for work…internet searches are ok for some but not for those who may be less confident with the technology…..it just seems everything is done online now which can be problematic for some.

TheShape

Molly56 said:

TheShape said:

The AET has now risen to £952 but that is from the Assessment period starting 07/04/2025 (I think) so your friend won't have had an assessment period with that new AET yet.

If the Claimant Commitment has not been adjusted, the requirement will be to look for work up to full-time hours.

If they can get sufficient hours with their employer to exceed £952 in monthly earnings they would move to the Light Touch work group and not currently be expected to undertake any work related activity such as attending UC appointments or searching for more work.

If they have a requirement to undertake 35 hours of work search and/or work preparation activity each week, the work coach should be reducing that requirement by the 16 hours worked (plus the travel time to/from work) and expecting, at most, the balance of time to be spent on work search and work preparation activities.

 

Am I correct in thinking that if she consistently earns enough to move to Light Touch work group then her current weekly phone calls with work coach will be reduced? 

Yes, whenever a claimant receives (PAYE) earnings above the AET they will be placed in the Light Touch regime in the next Assessment Period (AP) so if you are paid enough in each AP, you will remain in the Light Touch Regime.

Things may change but currently a move into Light Touch means no contact with the work coach is needed so no requirement for meetings and no work search requirements.

(Bear in mind that the AET changes each year as the national living/national minimum wage increases and the government could increase the AET level in the future(which has happened a number of times in the past).