Thousands claiming Universal Credit to be impacted by major rule change from 26 February

The UK government recently has introduced plans to change regulations regarding the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) for those receiving Universal Credit. Currently, claimants who are working 12 hours a week at the National Living Wage are not required to meet regularly with their coach at the Jobcentre but this will soon be raised to 15 hours putting more demands on low-earners.

The new rule came in two days ago and will starting impacting people from February 26 and is expected to affect the support available to 120,000 benefits claimants.

What is the AET?

The AET levels are put in place to determine how much contact you are required to have with the job centre and the amount of guidance and support you will receive. There are two possible work groups to be in depending if you are above or below the threshold - the ‘light touch’ or ‘intensive work search’ group.

If you are earning above the threshold then you will be in the ‘light touch’ meaning you will not need to have a lot of contact with the Jobcentre and not be required to look for jobs. However, if you are earning below the AET level then you are considered to be in the ‘intensive work search’ group - meaning you will need to fulfil a range of obligations to keep receiving your benefits.

Some of the work commitments you could be expected to do include, as per The Mirror:

• Carrying out work searches
• Making applications
• Creating and maintaining an online history
• Registering with an employment agency
• Creating and maintaining job profiles – however, you must not be mandated to use particular internet or social media sites (this must be entirely voluntary)
• Seeking references
• Any other actions which reasonably increase the likelihood of obtaining employmen

Read more:

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New threshold rate

The current AET rate is £494 a month for single people and £782 for couples, however this will be increasing from February 26 to £617 for single claimants and £988 for couples. This is the second time the AET has increased in the last year – it was the equivalent of 9 hours at National Living Wage before being pushed up to 12 hours in September only for it now to be increased further to 15 hours.

If you have been affected by the rule change you will be contacted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) but those who are unable to work due to disability or long-term sickness will be exempt. Those also exempt will include people over the state pension age, which is currently 66.

The government has tried to put a positive spin on it, suggesting that people will benefit from more time with a work coach and having more ‘access to opportunities to increase their earnings’. However, for many low earners, this will just place extra demands on them as they already struggle in a difficult economic climate.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP said, as per Gov.uk:

A hallmark of a compassionate society is giving those on low incomes the tools to progress and earn more.It is important that we continue to deliver targeted support so that those in work have access to the expertise and guidance of our dedicated work coaches.

By raising the Administrative Earnings Threshold, we are forging a robust labour market building on positive changes we have already made and supporting even more people to progress in the workplace.

Read more:

⋙ Thousands of Brits will get £500 in cost-of-living payments soon, check if you're eligible

Sources used:

- The Mirror 'Thousands of Universal Credit claimants hit by rule change today - what it means for you'

- Gov.uk 'Hundreds of thousands more workers to receive job support boost in spring'