benefits 16 hour working rule

dippy3103

Fair play to the OP for doing his/her best to make sure the law is fully complied with & give his staff a hand! If only more employers were like this!
I don't think it'll make a huge amount of differnce to the HB?CTB she gets for the short period of time she exceeds 16 hours.My only concern would be the time that it might take for her benefits to be recalculated for the extra work than back to Income Support.

old_boy_57

In my experience it depends on who deals with it and the local Jobcentre Plus / Council offices. Some will strictly apply the rules while others may turn a blind eye to the odd hour in an otherwise short working week. If it turns into more than the occasional hour then it is worth changing to WTC. I found that my lone parent advisor was the best person to confide in.

While the DWP promote the strict 16 hour rule, the Tax credit office have told me that they only want to know if it changes for 4 consecutive weeks.

chickflick

You said
single mother and is claiming income support
I thought you could nt work when you are claiming income support, or has that changed now ??

kelloggs36

Spendless wrote: »

AFAIK she has to be working UNDER 16 hours. Under 16 hours she can remain on IS and related benefits, and can keep a small amount of her wages (£20??? perhaps). 16 hours or over she would be on on working tax credits. Some benefits she would lose (like free school dinners). She might still get help with rent/ council tax but could keep any maintainance she receives for her child without it affecting her tax credits.

Somewhere like CAB can do her a 'better off' calcuation.

This is correct - she could claim working tax credits. Is there any chance this may be a permenant position?

zzzLazyDaisy

I do not know the answer to this question but I simply raise it as an avenue worth pursuing.

There used to be a formula for people who worked irregular hours, whereby their hours were averaged out over the month to calculate the weekly hours. I do not know if this is still the case, but it might be worth asking the question - if this is still the case then the averaging for irregular hours may well bring her back within the permitted work rules?