Traffic light system

If you're at orange, it means you have not met your work-related or social obligations.

Contact us straight away and we'll book you an appointment to come in and see us. At your appointment we'll talk to you about why you haven't met your obligations.

If you don't contact us and get back on track within 5 working days, you'll move to red and your benefit will reduce or stop.

If you have a good reason for not meeting your obligations

If you have a good reason, we'll move you back to green at your appointment.

If you don't have a good reason for not meeting your obligations

At your appointment we'll arrange for you to do an activity. 

If you don't do the activity within 5 working days from when you moved to orange, you'll move to red and your benefit will reduce or stop.

You'll move back to green as soon as you do the activity.

If you're at red, this means your benefit has reduced or stopped. Whether your benefit will reduce or stop depends on how many times you haven’t met your obligations in the last year. It could be the first, second or third time in the last year.

It's more serious if you don't meet your obligation of accepting a suitable job offer. In this case, your benefit will be affected in the same way as if you haven't met your obligations for the third time.

Contact us immediately if you're at red and haven't arranged to do an activity to get back on track.

First time within 1 year

If this is the first time you haven’t met your obligations without a good reason within a year, your benefit will reduce by 50% for 4 weeks.

Contact us immediately and we'll arrange for you to do an activity.

Once you've done the activity, you'll move back to green and get your full payment again.

If you don't contact us or do the activity within 4 weeks

If you:

• don't have dependent children, your benefit will stop after 4 weeks
• have dependent children, we’ll review your benefit after 4 weeks.

You can still contact us and arrange to do an activity to get back on track.

Once you've done the activity, you'll move back to green and get your full payment again.

Second time within 1 year

If this is the second time within the year you haven’t met your obligations without a good reason, your benefit will either:

• be paid at 50%, if you have dependent children, or
• stop, if you don’t have dependent children.

Contact us immediately and we'll arrange for you to do an activity.

Once you've done the activity, you'll move back to green and get your full payment again.

If you have dependent children and don't contact us within 4 weeks

If you have dependent children, we’ll review your benefit after 4 weeks.

Third time within 1 year

If this is the third time within the year you haven’t met your obligations, or the first time you haven’t accepted a suitable job offer, without a good reason, your benefit will either:

• be paid at 50%, if you have dependent children, or
• stop, if you don’t have dependent children.

Contact us immediately. We'll arrange for you to do another activity for 6 weeks and you will have to re-apply for your benefit.

If you agree to do the activity and you’ve re-applied for the benefit, you’ll get your full payment again from the date you start the activity. If you don’t complete the activity, you’ll have to pay back any benefit payments you got in that 6 weeks. Once you’ve done the activity, you’ll move back to green.

If you don’t agree to do the activity, you won’t be able to get a benefit for 13 weeks.

If you have dependent children and don't contact us within 4 weeks

If you have dependent children, we’ll review your benefit after 4 weeks.

You may want to dispute or discuss a decision we've made. If so, you have 5 working days to contact us after we've let you know you haven't met your obligation.

If you still disagree with our decision, you can ask for a review of decision.