Sanctions can apply and your UC be reduced if you fail, without good reason, to meet your work-related requirements.
There are 4 levels of sanction: high, medium, low and lowest level sanctions. If you have LCWRA, then you should not be sanctioned at all, as you do not have any work-related requirements to meet. If you have LCW, then high, medium and lowest level sanctions would not apply to you because you would not have the type of work-related requirements that would attract these sanctions.
If you have LCW, only low-level sanctions can be applied to you. This might happen if you fail to meet a work-focused interview or work preparation requirement. The sort of things that might result in a sanction could include:
- Not participating in a work-focused interview (either not turning up or not actually participating once you’re there)
- Failing to provide information or evidence requested of you
- Not completing tasks set on your online ‘to do’ list
- Not reporting a change in circumstances that is relevant to your work-related requirements
- Refusing to fulfil a work preparation requirement, such as attending a training scheme or placement
- Attending a course or placement but failing to participate in it once there
A sanction should only be applied if you were clearly notified about the requirement and the consequences of not complying. It should also not be applied if you have ‘good reason’ for failing to meet the requirement.
Good reasons for not attending a work-focused interview can include things like being too ill to attend, problems with literacy, language or transport, or any other good cause. If the work coach does not accept your reasons, you have the right to ask for a mandatory reconsideration, normally within a month of their decision, followed by an appeal to an independent tribunal if you are still not satisfied.
You can challenge the decision to give you a sanction, and this can include:
- Whether you were properly notified of the requirement and the consequences of not meeting it
- Whether you actually failed to meet the requirement
- Whether you have good reason for doing (or not doing) something
- How long you have been sanctioned for
A sanction decision can be revised at any time, so you can still challenge it even if the sanction happened a while ago and even if you are no longer sanctioned. If you have had more than one sanction, you can challenge them all at the same time.
Your UC will be reduced by the single standard allowance and the reduction will apply until the requirement has been met followed by a fixed period sanction of 7 days for the first failure, 14 days for the second failure or 28 days for a subsequent failure in a year.
If you are sanctioned, you can apply for a hardship payment if you have no other means of financial support. This will be paid at 60% of your standard allowance and is recovered at a maximum of 40% of your standard allowance once your sanction is lifted.
