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Job seeking advice

rm1612

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone is well and coping with this strange time as well as they can be.

I’ve had time off work and I’m now looking to return and I’m hoping for the support of Job Seekers Allowance while I find what will be a suitable job. I have a son with autism and he has always been happy with my working pattern of part time hours and grandma caring for him while I work 3 days. He’s school age and ready for high school in September.

When we talked about me working again I promised him I will only work during school hours because he wants and needs me home all the time because that is our new normal. I plan to work term time only during school hours but I appreciate finding a job this specific in my area will be tough.

My question is, given that is have a son with a disability, will the Job Centre force me to take a job with more hours if I am receiving financial support or will they support me in my specific request?

Thanks to anyone who can help

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Adrian_Scope

Hello @rmw76. To help advice you, would you be able to tell me what benefits (if any) you're currently claiming and whether your son receives DLA?
Does his grandma receive Carer's Allowance for looking after him?

rm1612

I get ESA at the moment and son gets DLA. Never claimed carers allowance but I might for me because he is the reason I can’t work anytime he’s home from school. He’s way too attached to me since I stopped working last year.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @rm1612. If you were to start work while claiming ESA you'd have to look at the permitted work route. On this you can earn up to £140 a week.
If you decide to come off of ESA or you'd like to earn more than £140 a week, you would need to claim Universal Credit.

On UC, your ESA award should transition to the LCW/LCWRA equivalent. With this in place you can work as little or as much as you like, so looking for term-time only positions wouldn't be an issue. Same as if you had the carer element.

That's only a basic overview but I hope that helps explain it a little more.

rm1612

I plan to come off ESA so won’t need permitted work. I did claim JSA for a few weeks after losing my job and that’s when I realised I wasn’t well enough to work so switched to ESA. Hoping to go back to JSA and the job centre. I’m just worried they will make me take a job with more hours.