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Universal Credit is a payment for people over 18 years old but under the State Pension age who are on a low income or out of work. In some circumstances, they , in full-time training or a full-time student. It will be paid twice a month and includes 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ for the cost of housing, children, and childcare, as well as financial 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ for disabled people, carers, and people who are too sick to work.

Universal Credit replaces:

• Jobseeker's Allowance (income-based)
• Employment Support Allowance (income related)
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit

More information for people moving from one of these benefits to Universal Credit is available at .

People considering a move to Universal Credit from another benefit should seek independent advice before making a claim for Universal Credit.

For more information, see .

How Universal Credit affects workers

Universal Credit is a benefit for people out of work and those on a low income. Universal Credit is paid twice a month and includes 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ for the cost of housing, children, and childcare, as well as financial 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ for disabled people, carers, and people who are too sick to work.

It is based on earnings, not hours worked. For example, claimants can:

• work more than 16 hours a week
• increase their contracted hours
• get bonus payments
• get overtime
• have more than one job
• be on any type of employment contract

This means that existing staff can increase their hours or work different patterns to meet peaks and troughs, and unemployed people can take temporary, short term or irregular work and still get help from Universal Credit.

This provides potential employees with the opportunity to take temporary or seasonal jobs without worrying about having to make a new claim for benefit or having gaps between paydays as they move in and out of work.

If paying upfront for registered childcare is preventing someone from starting work, help may be available. For more information, see   and .

Universal Credit and earnings

Universal Credit helps people on a low wage by topping up their earnings. If their earnings change, their Universal Credit payments will change automatically.

Claimants can earn a certain amount, which is based on their individual circumstances, before their Universal Credit payment is reduced. Once they earn above that amount, their Universal Credit payments will be reduced at a steady rate.

For every £1 they earn, their Universal Credit payment goes down by only 55p. If the claimant earns enough to reduce their Universal Credit payment to £0.00, their payments stop. Universal Credit will tell the claimant when this happens.

If the claimant earns a different amount each month, their Universal Credit will automatically adjust to reflect the amount they earned:

• if a claimant’s earnings reduce in a month, their Universal Credit will usually increase
• if their earnings increase, their Universal Credit will usually reduce

Find out more about .

To get Universal Credit, claimants may be asked to look for ways to increase their earnings, for example, by taking on more work or looking for additional or alternative work with a different employer. Some claimants may need to attend appointments at their local Jobs & Benefits office.

How Universal Credit affects employers

Your employees do not need to tell you if they get Universal Credit, and employers do not need to tell the Department for Communities about any employees who are getting Universal Credit.

Universal Credit is based on earnings, and not on the hours worked. This can help you as an employer as:

• Existing staff can increase their hours, work different patterns, work overtime to meet peaks and troughs, without need for recruitment and training.
• Unemployed people can take temporary, short term or irregular work allowing you to recruit from a wider pool of applicants and maintain a more flexible workforce. For help with recruitment and training see .
• Jobseekers can get help with upfront registered childcare costs to help them take up a job and claim back up to 85% of ongoing childcare costs, and
• Jobseekers will get help with job preparation, digital and budgeting skills through Universal Credit to help them prepare for work.

What employers need to do

Universal Credit payments automatically adjust each month based on the real time PAYE information you report to HMRC, so it’s important that you report this information accurately and on time.

If you are a PAYE (Pay As You Earn) employer, you must:

• give the claimant’s PAYE information (their ‘Full Payment Submission’ (FPS)) to HMRC on or before the day they’re due to be paid, and
• enter the usual date that you pay your employees on your FPS, even if you pay them on a different date because their normal date falls on a non-banking day, for example a weekend or a bank holiday.

The Department for Communities receives this information on the same day or the next day at latest and will automatically work out what Universal Credit they’re entitled to, based on the information you’ve given to HMRC.

If you are not a PAYE employer, it is the claimant’s responsibility to report their pay to Universal Credit each month.

Help with recruitment

Employer Advisers can give you practical 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ and advice about recruitment, including:

• understanding your recruitment needs and the local labour market
• help to develop pre-employment training specific to your job requirements
• suggesting new ways to recruit for your business to avoid excluding people, eg, by offering flexible working patterns
• an aftercare service following recruitment.

The Department for Communities website allows you to advertise your jobs online and manage your account online 24/7.

For more information, go to advertise a job on JobApplyNI.com. The dedicated local Customer Service team is available via telephone or email to help with your queries.

Support finding staff

If you want to recruit the right employees for your company or access the range of 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ programmes and services available to you and your staff, the Department’s Employer Services Branch can help.

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Recruitment 91Ï㽶»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵ - employer information pack (PDF, 342K).