DWP -Giving with one hand

@rafichagran. You make a good point. There are unprecedented levels of claims generated by the effects of the pandemic. It must be very stressful for front line customer facing DWP staff who are dealing every day with people who have lost their jobs, or those who have lost businesses - many of whom may be very distressed, having been thrown into financial chaos and who may never have been unemployed before. This terrible pandemic has touched many people in many different ways.

Pammie1 you’ve refreshed my memory and it was indeed income support while in receipt of carers allowance. The carers allowance was entirely deducted from the income support.

Sorry, just to clarify, carers credit is not a cash payment, it’s a national insurance credit designed for carers who may have to give up work to care for someone. It’s designed to avoid a gap in your contributions which may affect your pension. The person you are caring for (for at least 20 hours a week) has to be claiming standard rate care component of either DLA or PIP.

Maddyone the OP stated her daughter is a front line Govenment worker. She is upset because she is on a low salary and will not benefit from her bonus.
Your SIL and daughter are Doctors they would both earn a good salary and not have to rely on UC.
I am very sorry they caught covid and yes they do a wonderful job, but their financial circumstances are not the same as the OP's daughter.
Your post came across as angry because your daughter did not get a bonus, but you should not be because your daughter and sil are in a better financial position.

@grannynannywanny. If you are on UC and have caring duties, as you say, you wont be able to claim carers’ allowance as such, but there is a carers’ credit which is added into the basic calculation for entitlement to UC and also to income support for those still claiming it. You have to be caring for someone for at least 30 hours a week and the person you are claiming for has to be claiming either DLA or PIP care component at the standard rate.

I find it totally disgusting and immoral that anyone working should have to claim benefits, due to lowness of their pay. All this system does is to subsidise those large companies who pay so little. It is the bosses of those who are the real benefit fraudsters.

Thank you * Pammiel*. I'm not very good at putting things into words.
Grannynannywanny universal credit is heartless and designed to save money. As was PIP which replaced DLA.

nadateturbe I fully understand where you are coming from.

I myself work in one of the large supermarkets, during the end of the year we got an extra wage(I only work 16 hrs so mine was equivalent to that) this was for working hard during the pandemic.

Excited! no not really, as I am on a low wage I receive Working Tax Credits.

So when it comes to working out my next years WTC they will take in mind the extra wage, so therefor no bonus.

In February we also get another bonus and the same happens again.

So whilst some do pay extra tax they do at least get a little bit of the bonus thats left.

My dd works in NHS health care assistant, she is on UC and like you say that works the same way.

So anyone on low income that has to claim benefits do not enjoy any bonuses how ever they are given.

Maybe slightly off topic but another group in society affected by the universal credit claw back are those in a full time caring role to a loved one who is totally dependent on them round the clock. Eg most parents of adult children with severe learning disabilities receive very little support and can be on the go day and night often to the detriment of their own health.

Unable to have a paid job due to their 24/7 caring role they qualify for universal credit and carer allowance. The carer allowance is around £67 a week and every penny of it is deducted from the income support.

@Maddyone. We all know the enormous strain that frontline medical and care staff are under, but other services are under strain too. DWP are reportedly understaffed which undoubtedly has an effect on morale and the pandemic has resulted in literally millions of extra claims as a result of the pandemic.

Whatever your opinion on the rights and wrongs of the bonuses it seems that the bigger issue here is that the lower pay grades of a government department have to claim UC to make ends meet. The fact that their bonuses have then been swallowed up in UC claw backs adds insult to injury because they work for the department who administer UC. You would think someone would have seen this coming.

Just curious but what would a nurse earn in the uk per hour base rate, on average? Without overtime etc.

It's typical of the government. Give with one hand knowing that they will take most of it back with the other. Only the higher paid will benefit.

But at least they could ignore a bonus!!

Teacheranne how mean! In this case a bonus would have been better.
Doodledog I agree. Same happens with overtime which entails getting children cared for so what is the point? Its so difficult to earn extra when you get less than half of it added to your pay. I think a guaranteed amount should be given to top up earnings as with the old family allowance. The present system of UC takes away any hope of earning extra to make life better.

This is yet another example of how means testing keeps people in poverty.

It might be the letter of the law, but that doesn't make it morally right.

My daughter was given vouchers as a bonus but the value of them was added to her income so she was taxed - there’s no way round it!

NotaGran it's dreadful that anyone earns so little that it needs topped up.
She and her colleagues were "entitled" to the same thank you. It would have been better if they were all given a voucher or present of some kind. Those who needed it least got most.
Paddyanne The Scottish government awarded all NHS workers and carers a £500 bonus and asked the DWP not to tax them ..it was turned down
Disgusting but again not unexpected.

The Scottish government awarded all NHS workers and carers a £500 bonus and asked the DWP not to tax them ..it was turned down .Seems its good to clap them but not actually give them any reward ! We need control of our own finances so we can do things OUR way

Income is income for the calculations , regardless of whether it is a regular salary or a bonus unfortunately .
She got her bonus the same as everyone else . If you know the rules then you know she got what she was entitled to .

It’s dreadful that as a government employee she earns so little that she needs to be topped up by UC.

I think it’s a dreadful way to treat anyone. A thank you bonus should be an extra that a well deserving person can benefit from and shouldn’t be considered as income. I really feel for your daughter nadateturbe.

What does your daughter do to get a bonus? My daughter is a doctor and hasn’t had @ bonus, neither has her doctor husband. They both contracted Covid through their work. What exactly does your daughter do?

Yes NotAGran I know the rules. But it was a bonus, a thank you. And I know they are having a very hard time. Her manager asked why she wasn't excited about the bonus and was astounded when she explained.

There are bigger issues with UC which has been acknowledged as a very unfair system but that is not the point of this thread. And would be quite difficult to explain but I can tell you that before my daughter worked I had to help every month as the payments were never correct.

From the DWP website :

How your earnings affect your payments

If you’re employed, how much Universal Credit you get will depend on your earnings. Your Universal Credit payment will reduce gradually as you earn more - for every £1 you earn your payment reduces by 63p.

If her salary was increased by £250 , then surely it is right that she was entitled to less benefit that week/month ?

She did get the same bonus as the higher grades , she got less UC .

Dreadful, but unsurprising !