Salford Advice and Information Network

Volunteering & Benefits

Contents

What is volunteering.

Voluntary work & benefits

Effects of volunteering

ESA/ permitted work.

What is volunteering?

This is when you choose to give your time and energy to benefit other people

without being paid for it. You could do voluntary work with any kind of organisation,

including:

a charity, voluntary organisation or community group

a public-sector organisation, like your local council

a social enterprise supporting your local community, or

a local business. It’s not volunteering if you:

help out a family member

are given money apart from your expenses, or

are under contract to do it (this does not include any ‘volunteer agreement’ you

may have).

You may be given expenses and, in some cases (for example, if you’re volunteering

full-time), you may also get a small subsistence allowance for food or travel or both.

If you’re getting State benefits, you can be a volunteer and, in nearly all cases, your

benefits will not be affected. However, there are some cases where your benefits

can be affected } for example, if you get a subsistence allowance or if you’re doing

what someone else would normally be paid for.

You must contact Jobcentre Plus if you want to do any volunteering. They will ask

you to fill in a simple form telling them about the volunteering you want to do.

Voluntary Work

If you get incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance you are allowed to do voluntary work for anyone other than a close relative (parent (or in-law or step-parent), son/daughter (in-law/step), brother, sister or the partner of any of these).

If you get employment and support allowance or income support, you are allowed to do voluntary work for anyone other than a relative.

Voluntary Work

You must not be paid for your work, other

than expenses 'reasonably incurred by

[you] in connection with that work'.

Permitted expenses could include travel,

meals, childminding, the costs of caring

for a dependant, equipment needed for

work and use of a telephone. There is no

limit on the number of hours you can

volunteer.

ESA

You can still be a volunteer and get Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Income Support as long as you:

follow the basic rules for volunteering

can still go to a work-focused interview when we ask you to, and

let Jobcentre Plus know before you start, and tell them about any expenses you may get.

What are expenses?

Expenses are costs you have to pay as a direct result of volunteering. Expenses can be things like:

a bus or train fare for you to get to or from your volunteering the cost of somewhere to stay if you have to be away from home overnight because of

your volunteering the cost of your meals while you are volunteering the cost of any special clothing or equipment that you need to carry out your volunteering,

or the cost of some care expenses in certain cases.

It’s OK to get your expenses paid upfront.

If Jobcentre Plus pays your benefit, you must tell us about: all your expenses } remember to keep your receipts & any money you get on top of

expenses } this counts as earnings, and anything else you are given -this may not be money.

Always talk to your personal adviser before you start volunteering. They can tell you if volunteering will affect your benefits.

What if I choose not to get

paid for my work?

Choosing not to be paid is not the same as volunteering. If you’re doing what someone would normally be paid for } for example, if you’re working in a business or for a member of your family where they would usually pay someone to do the work } we will class this as unpaid work, not volunteering.

If you get Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, we might decide that what you would have been paid are ‘notional earnings’. If we decide this, it may affect your benefits and tax credits.

We decide by looking at whether:

someone would normally be paid to do the same kind of work

your work helps society or your community in some way, and

you work for a charity or similar group.

Voluntary Work I/S

If you get income support you can do

voluntary work without your income

support being affected. If you get income

support on the basis of being incapable

of work, the work must be for someone

other than a family member, otherwise

you will be regarded as capable of work.

Care you provide for a relative will not

count as voluntary work.

Universal Credit If you are working as a volunteer under universal

credit – and under jobseeker’s allowance when you are subject to the ‘claimant commitment’ –the time you spend doing voluntary work can reduce by 50% the number of hours that Jobcentre Plus will require you to look and prepare for work. This doesn’t mean there’s a limit on how much voluntary work you can do. For example if you are volunteering for 35 hours a week and you are required to look and prepare for work for 35 hours a week, this requirement can be reduced by 50% to 17.5 hours, not the voluntarywork.

EG: volunteering CAB You can work at the CAB as a volunteer whilst on ESA. However,

you will need to consider practicalities.

Will you be expected to do things which you know you can't? Do take care.

Secondly, if your award of ESA relies on points that are contraindicated by the work you do, for example if you got points for inability to engage in social contact with someone unfamiliar but now you intend to do voluntary work that relies on such happenings, you need to consider whether there has been a material change in your circumstances that you should notify the DWP about.

You will need to notify the DWP if you volunteer. Write to your BDC telling them what work you will be doing, how many hours, where and who for.

Consider Many people claiming ESA are capable of

doing a bit of voluntary work that may even help improve their health and prospects of getting back to work. Unfortunately, depending on the nature of the work and disability, the DWP will be quick to highlight it in an appeal, and tribunals are required to consider it, sometimes quite loosely, to draw conclusions about the claimants ability.

This from the Work Program Provider

Guidance suggests they can:-

Community benefit work placement referral

5. You can decide as appropriate to

mandate suitable JSA and ESA

participants, with the exception of ESA

claimants who are exempt from

work related activity (further detail about

voluntary claimants can be found

in Chapter 2 – Work Programme claimant

groups), to work placement that

is of community benefit.

Is Employment and Support

Allowance forcing people into work?

Asking people to take part in some form of

work-related activity is not the same as

forcing them into work. What ESA offers is

more help and support which can transform

lives. Those with the most severe conditions

will receive more financial help through the

Support component and will be able to

volunteer for any appropriate support on offer

if they wish.

Charity Admission Handbook

ESA/ VOLUNTARY WORK The general rule is that you cannot work and be entitled to ESA at the

same time, however, there are certain exceptions. Work as a councillor,

Member of a first tier tribunal, Domestic work in your own home, Care of a relative, Caring for another person living with you under specific legislation

relating to accommodating children or temporary caring for someone else when you are paid.

Voluntary work that is not for a relative and the only payment that you receive is to cover reasonable expenses and it considered reasonable for you to work free of charge.

A work placement approved in writing by the JCP before the placement starts and its purpose is to provide practical work experience with an employer.

For CONESA ant work that you do in a week in which you were treated as having a limited capability for work because you are having regular treatment [ i.e, for chronic renal failure] or you are recovering from treatment.

.Gov.uk adviceClaiming ESA if you work

Usually your ESA isn’t affected if you:

work and earn up to £20 a week

work and earn up to £101 a week doing work as part of a treatment programme, or supervised by someone from a local council or voluntary organisation

work less than 16 hours a week, and earn up to £101 a week for up to 52 weeks

This is called ‘permitted work’.

You can also do ‘supported permitted work’ and earn up to £101 a week if your illness or disability very severely limits your ability to work. There’s no limit to the number of hours per week or length of time you can do ‘supported permitted work’ for.

Supported permitted work is supervised by someone from a local council or a voluntary organisation whose job it is to arrange work for disabled people.

You must tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you start doing permitted work. They’ll send you form PW1 to fill in and send back to them.

Any volunteer work you do needs to be reported. It normally doesn’t affect your ESA.

ESA/PERMITTED WORK Permitted work is defined as any kind of work that you can do.

As part of a treatment programme under medical supervision while you are in hospital or regularly attending hospital as an out patient , provided you do not earn more than £101 per week.

For an unlimited period, provided you do not earn more than £20 per week. This is known as the permitted work lower level.

For an unlimited period, provided you do not earn more than £101 and you are in support work. Support work is work supervised by a public or local authority or voluntary organisation or community interest company whose job it is to find work for people with disabilities.

The support should be on going and regular.

Check that the JCP agrees that the work will count as supported work.

ESA/Permitted work

If your earnings in any week are higher than the relevant limit you are not entitled ESA for that week.

When you are doing permitted work any earnings that do not exceed the relevant limit of either £20.00 or £101 are disregarded.

Permitted work higher limit is allowed for 52 weeks if you are earning below the limit.

If you are in the support group you can do this work indefinitely.

After a further 52 weeks have passed you can do more work.

You should inform the JCP as soon as you undertake any permitted work as under the standard benefit rules you must notify the JCP of any change in your circumstances.

Some types of permitted work may only be disregarded if you do such work for less than 16 hours per week.

Permitted Work and Capability for

work

If you are under any type of permitted work there is a reasonable prospect that you will find it difficult to pass the WCA.

Any work undertaken may suggest to the JCP that your limited capability for work may have changed and you may be subject to a reassessment.

A lot will depend upon the grounds on which you passed the WCA and whether or not the work that you are undertaking challenges the previous decision.

The End