Universal Credit Sanction for Taking Parental Leave?

I am currently wondering whether a UC claimant could be sanctioned for taking unpaid parental leave.

The DWP’s Advice for Decision Making states that a sanction can be applied where a claimant voluntarily and without good reason ‘loses pay’ and such a sanction can be applied even where the ‘sanctionable failure’ occurred before the UC claim was made.
ADM K3 - (paragraphs K3201 & K3024)

One thing that may get parents on unpaid parental leave off the sanction hook: The CPAG benefits handbook (p.1117 2017/18) suggests that pre-claim failures can only be sanctioned where the claimant is now subject to all work-related requirements.

I wonder whether an employee on parental leave might be exempt from the work-seeking requirements given that they still have an employment contract for a certain number of hours?

Does anyone have any experience of this? or any sources of information that could offer any further guidance.

Any help or opinions on this issue would be much appreciated.

seriously?  is this an actual case?

as it is an entitlement (albeit unpaid)

https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement

and if UC took that view, they could take the same view of maternity leave ......

We have not come across a case where a parent has been sanctioned yet, but we have had enquiries about benefit entitlement by parents considering taking parental leave and we are hoping to write an article on our website providing guidance on the subject.

The ADM does have specific advice regarding women on maternity leave:

Women on maternity leave
K3222 A woman may decide not to return to work for up to 52 weeks after the beginning of the week in which she has a child depending on her length of service. She has not left her employment voluntarily unless the contract of employment continued up to the date on which she decided not to return. But the DM may need to consider whether she failed to comply with a requirement to take up paid work (see K3051 et seq).

Although I’m not entirely sure how to interpret this guidance.

Jude Wells - 11 July 2017 11:39 AM

The ADM does have specific advice regarding women on maternity leave:

Women on maternity leave
K3222 A woman may decide not to return to work for up to 52 weeks after the beginning of the week in which she has a child depending on her length of service. She has not left her employment voluntarily unless the contract of employment continued up to the date on which she decided not to return. But the DM may need to consider whether she failed to comply with a requirement to take up paid work (see K3051 et seq).

.

the mind boggles.

So do we have UC rules undermining people’s employment protection?  it seems as thought it might be that way…..

it might also be that the people writing the guidance have no clue about maternity leave!  (just as likely).

I also think that the guidance should give several examples, to help understanding:

1. on maternity leave, goes back to work at end of it (and possibly sub examples re unpaid or paid maternity leave)
2. on maternity leave, decides not to go back (and possibly with sub examples re. the reason for the decision not to - e.g. child disabled, whatever….)
3. on maternity leave, tries to go back but employer won’t have her/she was made redundant (issues re separate ET claim being wholly separate, of course)

non of which implies a refusal to take up paid work, since ipso facto whilst on maternity leave one has a job.

is this going to be like those examples where people with jobs that fit with their childcare etc are then put under pressure to get extra/different jobs?

ADM Chapter K2 has quite a lot of advice and examples and case studies of what constitutes ‘good reason’ where a claimant leaves paid work or loses pay. Under these rules it says there are cases where claimants should not be sanctioned if they leave/refuse/change work due to the requirements of childcare, however the DWP has a lot of discretion to decide whether the childcare need is sufficient to justify the sanctionable action.
I suspect that under this guidance you can take unpaid parental leave (and not be sanctioned) only where there are no realistic alternative childcare arrangements available.

In relation to maternity: I think the rule quoted above suggests that a mother has a right to take 52 weeks leave away from work but if she decides that she is not going to return to work after maternity leave she may be sanctioned (unless she can show good reason, eg no available childcare). I would like to be told that I’m wrong on this issue: it seems strange that a mother responsible for a child under the age of one has no work related requirements imposed, but can be sanctioned for not returning to work at the end of maternity leave?

Hi Jude - I hope you don’t get an actual example of this! But two thoughts on not returning after ML.

1) the responsible carer of a child under one is definitely subject to no work related requirements under s19 WRA 2012

2) s 23 (high level sanctions) is specific about who under s19 can be sanctioned in this way, and it is only those people in subsection 3 of s19 who because they leave work (or are dismissed for misconduct etc) would then fall under all work-related requirements.

That can’t happen to someone with a child under one.

You’ll see elsewhere in s23 that being under s22 (all work-related requirements) is relevant - eg at the time the award was made (subsection 4), or the time of the sanctionable failure (I think! subsection 2).

Hi Will

Thanks for your response, it’s very useful to see the legislation that the CPAG rule was based on. I agree with your reading of S26 of the WRA 2012 in relation to mothers on maternity leave.

I suspect that parents taking shared parental leave would not be protected from high level sanctions in the same way because they may well be subject to all work related requirements.

Jude