Universal Credit and Benefit Sanctions, What Every PCS Member Urgently Needs To Know
Universal Credit may have been launched with a whimper – at just one Jobcentre affecting a handful of claimants – but unless urgent action is taken then it will prove devastating for low paid workers at the DWP, HMRC and elsewhere within both the public and private sectors.
Universal Credit is not just an attack on unemployed, sick or disabled people, but everyone dependent on some form of support, such as Tax Credits or Housing Benefits. Part time workers earning less than the minimum wage for a full week’s work will be placed under the same ‘conditionality’ regime for in-work benefits as those currently claiming Jobseekers Allowance. This is intended to to ‘incentivise’ low paid workers to continuously look for ‘more or better paid work’.
This conditionality, known as Work Related Activity, will at the minimum include regular interviews at the Jobcentre. Astonishingly, a part time Jobcentre worker (or any…
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