Prepping for future unemployment. and future work.

[DustyDog]

Grenfell, i'd love to be self employed, the thing for me is that the things i do that are not cooking related every one around here does, ie logging/firewood, but i can say that if i stay to the end i will get three months pay to keep me going and as i mentioned in an earlier post, there are kitchen jobs there that are not cheffing, pay rubbish but it keeps you going in the mean time. Thanks for all supportive comments.

[tanstaafl]

However , what was not made clear at the time was that any dole money I claimed ended up being taken out of the severance pay

Don't want to depress you Grenfell , but as I am looking at being finished where I am now I looked into that aspect , ie payment in lieu of notice (PILON) and it seems now the rules have changed and they have stopped docking unemployment benefit because of it....

[junmist]

DD not sure how you are with large animals but have you thought of Horse logging http://www.britishhorseloggers.org/ basically going into hard to reach places with a man and a horse and taking wood out. Have a talk with the big boys and see if they would be interested in employing you as a free lancer. If you can't think of any self employed options try going into the care profession they are crying out for men to join them and it is very rewarding. There are lots of options that you can try to decide which one you would like to go into.

[jansman]

I had the same experience as Grenfell over the PILON. Money that was rightfully mine was taken away as I got another job. The union told me I had to claim benefits as it would be docked automatically. Cost me three and a half grand. It does make you cynical.

Regarding the PILON now, the rules have not changed. My Wife is a Union Rep for GMB. They still dock your money she tells me.

[dangerman]

Hey, very common sight all of this financial uncertainty. The way I see it though, there is always something you can do. Where there's a will there's a relative, and all that.

If you want a simple income, self employed type, then have a look at what people at small local churches get up to. Many church folk are just after a simple life and are after an honest days pay for an honest days work. Round where I'm from there are tons of window cleaners, house cleaners, gardeners and the biggest one - car valets (or what one would call a 'valeter' in Liverpool). These kinds of jobs are always there for the taking because most people would need to either really enjoy it, or have no career ambition. All it takes is a bit of time investment and a few quid on basic tools and supplies. Get out knocking on doors and dropping a few print offs around the place to advertise.

Alternatively, there is always care work. The company where I work can't even find people to apply for the posts that are available. I've always done care work. It's quite a lot of graft there a lot of people don't appreciate, but it can be very enjoyable. I look after people with autism for a modest wage, but there are plenty of perks and lots of opportunity for overtime.

As a man of principle (as my dad taught me to be) I will always work. I'll find it no matter where I am.

[tanstaafl]

I had the same experience as Grenfell over the PILON. Money that was rightfully mine was taken away as I got another job. The union told me I had to claim benefits as it would be docked automatically. Cost me three and a half grand. It does make you cynical.

Regarding the PILON now, the rules have not changed. My Wife is a Union Rep for GMB. They still dock your money she tells me.

I must admit thats what I believed Jansman (Unite union rep) but thought I would check and TBH there is a lot of conflicting info out there, but most of the recent stuff seems to say PILON no longer effects benefits unless it breaches the "savings" rule,,,,,

Will have a look round and see if I can find the info and post a link............


Edit: Just spent a hour looking and its still not clear, some sites say no benefits whilst on PILON , some say its changed now but nothing clear cut, would your wife have a link to something that would help...........

Cheers Jase

[Brambles]

I saw something today DD that made me think of you and this thread. A Chimney Sweep Van. Now if there are loads of folk burning Coal and Logs in your area, there's got to be need of a Chimney Sweep, ever thought of retraining?

[jansman]

Both GMB and my own union USDAW always link directly to the youGov website. Just go into 'redundancy'. It is all there. To be fair it IS confusing, but rest assured that the current gvt. Is not going to start getting generous!

My own situation, like Grenfell, was insolvency. I qualified for the Full Monty. Got the 20 years redundancy and holiday pay ok ( 2 weeks) but my notice for PILON (12 weeks) started then from the day I was made redundant! Most unfair. But as the National Insurance fund was coughing it up, I was in no position to argue. Even the insolvency people told me to claim as the Gvt expect you to claim dole. Unfortunately? I got a job straight away and those wages were carved out of it too. It is not fair when it is what you are entitled to.

[grenfell]

However , what was not made clear at the time was that any dole money I claimed ended up being taken out of the severance pay

Don't want to depress you Grenfell , but as I am looking at being finished where I am now I looked into that aspect , ie payment in lieu of notice (PILON) and it seems now the rules have changed and they have stopped docking unemployment benefit because of it....

Don't worry I won't get depressed if the rules have changed or not , water under the bridge and all that , nothing I can do about it now. One thing I forgot to say is that my other half is also now registered as self employed , I pay her to do the books , wash my workwear and come with me on jobs . She has an exemption from NI but it does mean we have two personal allowances to account for before we get taxed . Look into working tax credits and child tax credits.
Oh and one more thing , although this is a tad more personal to us. We currently have a foster child through the family and friends scheme and that too has complicated form filling ( well form filling for my wife , er I mean secretary) but there are forums and webinar's that can be of great assistance.

[ForgeCorvus]

Just in case anyone's missed this I thought I should post a link
https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance-guide