Job Seekers and Zero Hour Contracts

soapbloggs

Hi,

I am considering a job with a ZHC (Zero Hour Contract) but currently I'm on JBA (Job Seekers Allowance) as unemployed. I want the protection of my income by remaining on the allowance.

I know that you can work and receive some of the allowance depending if you remain under a threshold of working hours, days and earnings. However, I notice that the social welfare makes a calculation based on the average hours a day expected to work as opposed to basing it on what you actually have worked. I saw the form they gave me that I must submit to the employer, hence this is my understanding. My question is with ZHC, how do they calculate an average working day, since there is no fixed pattern? Will I get totally screwed if I just work one hour for 3 days? I need help finding the ways that they calculate these allowances, since if I'm offered the job, I need to know if it's prudent to accept it from a financial point of view.

I am considering applying for Rent Allowance as well, does anybody know how this is calculated if one is working with JBA as outlined above?

easygoing1982

basically you need to tell your employer it's not viable for you to work under X amount of hours a day. There's no point in giving up your JSA if your getting less in your job than your JSA. When i was on the Xs and Os from what i remember if you work 1 sec of a day you lose your aallowance for that day.

After 6 weeks or so you will get a form from social welfare to give to your employer for them to fill out with the hours and days you've been paid for.