External Resources & Events

by Admin | 06.04.2019

Benefit updates from April 2019

• The National Living Wage is going up to £8.21 an hour 
  You are legally entitled to the National Living Wage if you are aged 25 or over, and not in your first year of an apprenticeship. Those under 25 and apprentices also benefit from rises in the Minimum Wage. The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates apply across the UK.
• The rate at which Carer’s Allowance is paid has increased…
  from £64.60 to £66.15 and the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit has increased from £120 to £123 a week (after deductions). Click here for more details
• Other benefits that went up
  The carer premium (carer addition within Pension Credit) went up from £36.00 a week to £36.85 a week. The carer element is an equivalent amount paid with Universal Credit – this is increasing to £160.20 a month (approx. £37 a week). The rates for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance were also uprated. Click here for more information on Carers and Disability Benefits
• Continuing roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) 
  Universal Credit is a single means-tested benefit which replaces Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.With the roll-out of UC across the UK, working age people wishing to make a new claim for means-tested benefits will have to claim UC.

  People already receiving means-tested benefits will only need to claim UC if they have a change in circumstances (that means they have to make a new claim for one of the above means-tested benefits). The managed migration of people on existing benefits to UC is due to start in late 2019 and will be completed by 2022.  Click here for more information on Universal Credit.

Becoming a nursing associate – How to become a nursing associate and find a course in England
A nursing associate is a new member of the nursing team who will provide care and support for patients and service users.The nursing associate role will be regulated in England only. We became the legal regulator for nursing associates in July 2018.
Nursing associate programmes
Until 26 July 2019, you can begin training as a nursing associate in England via a: nursing associate programme delivered by a Health Education England (HEE) approved nursing associate pilot site, or nursing associate apprenticeship programme. After 26 July 2019, you can only begin training on a NMC-approved nursing associate programme.
Where to find training programmes
If you’re interested in becoming a nursing associate and you’re currently employed as a health or care professional, you can ask your employer for advice on the options available to you. We’ll be updating our list of approved programmes from June 2019 to include nursing associate programmes as we approve them.
Progression to nursing qualifications 
The government wants to see nursing associate qualifications help people with the desire and ability to become a registered nurse.
We’ve designed our standards in a way that makes it easy for education providers to develop programmes that will build on nursing associate proficiencies.
These programmes will need to enable students to develop a specialty in a field of nursing. For more information on becoming a Nurse or Midwife please click Nursing & Midwifery Council

Level 1 Certificate in Customer Service and Communication – Want to work in Customer Service?

Learn how to provide great customer service, improve your communication skills, and understand the principles of good customer care.

This 6 day course looks at responding to the needs of your customers and colleagues, communicating effectively, rights and responsibilities, dealing with problems, using the phone to communicate, and other topics. The course is useful for anyone wanting to work in customer service in any field. You will gain your qualification through a series of exercises and filling in of a workbook.

These courses are FREE for anyone on means tested benefit or for anyone who earns less than £330/month or £15,000 year.

Click here for further information.

Please call us on 020 8868 5224 for any further information and ask for a member of the Working for Carers team. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Working for Carers will be present at the following events. Please do join us.

Heathrow Jobs & Careers Fair – Thursday 28th February 2019

The Heathrow Jobs & Careers Fair will take place on Thursday 28 February 2019 at Sofitel Heathrow, Terminal 5.

Heathrow Jobs and Careers Fair is an annual event. It aims to inspire local schools, parents and job seekers as part of the airport’s investment in the local communities of Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Slough, South Buckinghamshire, Spelthorne and Windsor & Maidenhead.

The event showcases some of the 413 companies that operate at Heathrow and the thousands of different skills development opportunities and roles available.

For more information and to register click here

Crutch Harinegy is hosting its next Job Fair oppposite the new Tottenham Hotspur football stadium. There will be over 50 exhibitor stands including job opportunities, apprenticeships, training and career guidance and support.

Last year over 400 visitors attended.

This is a free non ticket event open to all – please click here for more information and to register

Level 2 Advice and Guidance (IAG) Qualification
Want to work giving advice and guidance to people?

This 5 day course is suitable for anyone who wishes to start a career in advice work (or who already volunteers or works in this field), and will provide a basic level qualification to those wishing to give advice and discuss options for customers and clients in careers, housing, employment, rights, debt, counselling and training/education.

The course covers definitions of advice and guidance, the skills needed to give advice, listening and communication skills, meeting the needs of the client, boundaries, referral, and legal/ethical issues. You will get to practice your skills through exercises and role plays, and will achieve the qualification through a series of small assignments.

Click here for further information.

Please call us on 020 8868 5224 for any further information and ask for a member of the Working for Carers team. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Carers Trust

by Admin | 06.02.2019

Working for Carers is a London-wide project that supports unpaid carers, aged 25 or over, to pursue their employment goals through confidence building and skills development. The project is led by Carers Trust and delivered by its network of 24 partners across London. Working for Carers is funded by the European Social Fund and the National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund. Harrow Carers is the lead agency for north-west London.

Why Working for Carers?

• There are around seven million carers in the UK – that is one in ten people. This is an 11% rise since 2001, an increase of over 620,000. (UK Census, 2011).
• There are 689,000 carers in London (UK Census, 2011).
• 68% of unpaid carers in London are unemployed (Carers Trust, 2016).
• The overall employment rate for carers in the UK is 67% with over half of those who are not working saying that they wish to do so (UK Census, 2011).
• Nearly 70% said the main barriers to finding and keeping employment were the pressures of their caring role and 75% said it was the need for part-time work (Carers Trust, 2016).
• In the UK, family and caring responsibilities account for 26% of economic inactivity in the working age population, compared with 19% in Germany and 18% in the Netherlands (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008).
• £5.3bn has been wiped from the economy in lost earnings due to people having to leave work to take on caring responsibilities (Pickard, L, 2012).
• For those providing over 50 hours of care, 45% of men and 35% of women remain in work. Carers of working age were significantly less likely to be in work than non-carers of working age (Carers UK, 2014).

Please click here to view the Working for Carers Progress Report

Better off working

by Admin | 06.02.2019

Are you better off working? The FREE HMRC app provides a quick and easy way to check your tax and benefits using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.

You can use it to:

• view your tax code and an estimate of the tax you need to pay
• see your income and benefits
• check your National Insurance number
• view your tax credits payments schedule
• renew your tax credits
• use our tax calculator to work out your take home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance deductions
• track forms and letters you’ve sent to us
• get 6-digit access codes to make your HMRC accounts more secure

Click here for more details

Benefits calculators

Use an independent benefits calculator to find out:

• what benefits you could get
• how to claim
• how your benefits will be affected if you start work

These are free to use, anonymous, and have replaced the Benefits Adviser service.

Calculators

Use one of the following:

• Policy in Practice – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit, how these are calculated and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours
• entitledto – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work
• Turn2us – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours

For more information visit www.gov.uk

Universal Credit
Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. It’s paid monthly.

You may be able to get it if you’re on a low income or out of work.

Whether you can claim Universal Credit depends on where you live and your circumstances.

If you already get benefits…
Universal Credit will replace the following benefits:

• Child Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Working Tax Credit

If you currently receive any of these benefits, you cannot claim Universal Credit at the same time.

Universal Credit is being introduced in stages across the UK. You do not need to do anything until you hear from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about moving to Universal Credit, unless you have a change in circumstances.

For more information on Universal Credit, click here

If this is all too confusing, give us a call on 0208 868 5224 and ask to speak to a member of the Working for Carers team. We’ll be happy to guide you.

Smart Works & Suited and Booted

by Admin | 06.02.2019

The Smart Works service in London is open to any women who has a confirmed job interview for a paid position or a year-long apprenticeship.

Appointments to Smart Works in London are made by referral only. We work with many referral agencies, including Jobcentre Plus, work programme providers and charities working to support women back into employment. They refer women to us who need help with interview clothes and confidence-building in the run up to their interview.

Suited & Booted is a charity that helps vulnerable, unemployed and low-income men into employment by providing interview clothing and interview advice.

Our clients may be struggling and in need of support, both financial and practical. They may not have the means to wear suitable clothes to ‘look the part’ and therefore unable to give themselves the best possible chance at a job interview.

We give our clients suitable clothing – perhaps a formal suit or a smart casual style – and then guide them through the process of a job interview. This gives them better prospects of success and contributes to their general self-confidence and self-esteem.

We aim to make a difference so that our clients can move forward with the ability to succeed and find their own way in society.

We are a new charity and rely upon the help of volunteers, financial contributions and clothing donations to continue the work that we do.

Please note you will have to be referred to these organisations from Working for Carers – ask your Employment Advisor for more information.

Job Search Planning

by Admin | 04.02.2019

Starting the process of searching for a job is very exciting but can also be daunting to begin with. But if you plan your job search and break each task down, it can make the process not only manageable but enjoyable as well.

Before Job searching:

• Ensure your CV is up to date.
• Have a standard cover letter prepared.
• Have a sample application form to use for reference.

After your job search materials are fully prepared, the next step should be your job-search action plan.

Where to look for jobs:

• Job search websites such as Indeed.co.uk, Reed.co.uk, Monster.co.uk, Jobsite.co.uk, Totaljobs.com. You can also look at specialist sites such as do-it.org for volunteering jobs or part-time jobsites such as e4s.co.uk or timewisejobs.co.uk. Specialist sites for a sector you are interested in such as jobsincare.co.uk.
• Sign on at an agency.
• If you are interested in a particular company then look at their website. Most companies will list vacancies here.
• Ask people you know if there are any vacancies at their company.

Looking while you are out and about. Lots of smaller employers will put vacancies in their windows especially

Find out more and how we can help you by attending the Working for Carers Job Club in your borough or give us a call on 020 8868 5224 and ask for a member of the Working for Carers team. We’ll be happy to guide you through the planning process.