Branch Secretary News: There for You

Early pay can make it seem like individuals have received twice as much pay as normal, because two pay packets fall within one Universal Credit assessment period; thereby reducing the amount of Universal Credit members receive.

Two ways you can advise on how to reduce the risk of this are:

• Asking employers to report the usual pay date to HMRC, rather than reporting the earlier pay date. Or, if employers cannot do this;
• Suggesting that members can the Department for Works & Pensions (DWP) to reallocate one of the salary payments to a different Universal Credit assessment period. Members may need to provide additional information or evidence and the DWP may not be able to make the change in time for their next Universal Credit payment. Members can contact the DWP through their Universal Credit Journal to request this.

 Members shouldn’t need to choose between heating and eating so There for You is once again running the Winter Essentials Grant, offering £200 vouchers toward food shopping for eligible members.

The application form will be available online here for 24 hours from 12 noon Wednesday 10 December. Eligible members will be chosen at random from the applicant pool and contacted to submit supporting documents. Due to limited funds and in anticipation of high demand, we regret that we will not be able to help all members who apply.

Applicants must:   

• Be a UNISON member and have paid at least four weeks’ subscriptions as of 10 December 2025. Subscriptions must be up to date.
• Not have received a grant from UNISON Welfare since 10 June 2025, excluding School Uniform Grant and Seasonal Food Fund.
• Must be responsible (or their partner, if applicable) for household fuel bills. Only one application per household will be considered.   

And EITHER:

Be on a low income, meaning a net household income* of no more than £28,205/year (£2,350.42/month).

OR:

Be in receipt of means-tested benefits. This includes:

• Universal Credit

• Housing Benefit

• Child and/or Working Tax Credits

• Pension Credit

• Means-tested Jobseekers Allowance

• Means-tested Employment Support Allowance

• Income Support

* Where members either have no recourse to public funds and their household income is above £28,205/year an assessment will be undertaken to see whether they would be eligible for benefits if they did have recourse to public funds so that they are not disadvantaged.

 If members are unable to complete the application due to an accessibility issue they can email weg@unison.co.uk or call UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857.

Office hours  

Staff will be available to take calls up to 5pm on Tuesday 23 December.

The office will close on Wednesday 24 December and re-open at 9am on Friday 2 January 2026.

• Application forms received and assessed as requiring immediate attention (Priority 1) will be allocated and worked on up to closure on 24 December 2024.
• All other applications received after 2 December will be processed in the New Year.