Work search requirements when you have a toddler at home

The rules around what you are expected to do — and what you can push back on — are not always clearly explained. Work coaches vary enormously in how they apply conditionality requirements to single parents with young children. Some are flexible and understanding. Others are not.

What follows is not legal advice. It is an attempt to set out what the rules actually say, so that you can have an informed conversation with your work coach rather than simply accepting whatever you are told.

The lead carer exemption

If you are the lead carer for a child under the age of 13, your work search requirements are limited. You cannot be required to take a job that does not fit around your childcare responsibilities. You cannot be required to work more hours than you have childcare for. You cannot be sanctioned for turning down a job that would require you to work outside your agreed hours.

These protections exist. They are not always communicated clearly. If your work coach is telling you that you must be available for any hours, or that you must accept any job offer, that is not correct.

What you can reasonably push back on

You can set your availability based on your childcare. If your child is in nursery from 9am to 3pm, you can state that you are available to work during those hours. You do not have to be available outside them.

You can ask for your work search requirements to be tailored to your circumstances. This is called a Claimant Commitment, and it is supposed to be agreed with you, not imposed on you. If you feel your Claimant Commitment does not reflect your actual situation, you can ask for it to be reviewed.

When things go wrong

If you are sanctioned for something you believe you should not have been sanctioned for, you have the right to challenge it. You can ask for a mandatory reconsideration, and if that does not resolve it, you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

The system is not always fair. But it is not entirely without recourse. Knowing your rights is the first step to being able to use them.