Casual hours and Work and Income

Working while on a benefit

Work and Income says it plainly: getting a job does not always mean your payments stop. Whether you can keep getting a benefit while you work depends on which benefit or payment you get, and how much the job pays.

Before you start a new job, ring Work and Income on 0800 559 009. It asks people to get in touch first, so it can sort out your payments and check whether there is other help, such as paying for work costs like training or equipment, budgeting, or managing a debt with them.

A one-off job counts too. If you do a single paid job, a day of labouring or a weekend of event work, Work and Income needs to know about it.

When to tell Work and Income

• The week you earn the money, not the week you are paid. If you work this week and are paid in a fortnight, you declare it this week.
• By 6pm on Friday. The week runs Monday to Sunday, so if you are working at the weekend, include those hours too.
• Estimate if you are not sure. If you do not know what you will earn, tell them what you think it will probably be.
• Once is enough if nothing changes. The amount you declare carries on every week until you tell them it has stopped or changed.
• Paid fortnightly or monthly? Break your pay down to a weekly amount before you enter it.
• Did not work that week? Enter zero for that employer, so the old amount does not carry on.

If you need to change your estimate after 6pm on Friday, call 0800 559 009 before midday the following Monday. If you spot a mistake in what you entered online, Work and Income asks you to log back in and correct it as soon as you can.

How to declare

The easiest way is MyMSD, Work and Income's online service. You need your client number to register.

1. Log in and choose Declare wages.
2. Select the week your wages started from.
3. Pick the job if you have declared it before, or choose Add employer for a new one.
4. Enter what you were paid for the whole week before tax, or your hourly rate and the hours you worked.
5. Check it, then press Submit. Got more than one job? Declare each one.

For a new job Work and Income also needs to know who you work for and when you started. If you cannot use MyMSD, phone or go into a service centre.

Self-employed or contracting? Say so. In MyMSD, choose Declare wages and then Self-employed. Work and Income needs your total income before tax, any business expenses you want to deduct, the hours you worked, your hourly rate if you have one, and when you earned the money. It notes that the expenses you can deduct for a benefit can differ from the ones you claim for tax, and it may later ask for documents such as your IR3 tax return or a profit and loss account.

How earnings change your payment

This is the income test. Work and Income publishes income deduction tables for each benefit, and the numbers depend on which benefit you get and whether you are single, a sole parent or part of a couple.

For Jobseeker Support, single with no children, its table says:

• You can earn up to $160 a week before tax without it affecting your payment.
• Over $160, your payment reduces by 70 cents for every extra $1 you earn.

Those rows are from Work and Income's own table, and it calls them an estimate: your deduction can differ with your circumstances. Other payments, such as the Accommodation Supplement, may be affected too, and above a certain amount, which Work and Income calls the cut-out point, you no longer qualify for Jobseeker Support at all. If you are a sole parent, part of a couple, or on Sole Parent Support or the Supported Living Payment, use the table for your own situation.

Notice the two sides of the table: the test is worked out on what you earn before tax, and the deduction comes off your payment after tax.

What counts as income

Wages are "any income you earn for work", whether the pay stays the same, changes from week to week, or comes from a one-off job. Work and Income's declaring pages also cover:

• self-employment, sole trader and business income;
• child support, and ACC payments;
• pension and superannuation payments, including KiwiSaver and lump sum payouts;
• trust and insurance payments;
• other regular income, such as bank interest, investments, rent and income from boarders;
• one-off or lump sum payments, such as gifts, lottery winnings and inheritances.

What you have to declare depends on what you get. On Jobseeker Support you need to tell Work and Income about any income you or your partner get, and some one-off payments. If you also get extra help, such as the Accommodation Supplement or Temporary Additional Support, there may be more to tell them, including assets. Its "Do you need to declare income?" page walks you through it by benefit, and if you are not sure, ask.

If you get it wrong

If you do not tell Work and Income, it may pay you too little, or pay you too much, and then you have to pay the debt back. It also matches information with other government departments, including earnings information with Inland Revenue, so undeclared pay tends to surface later as a debt. An estimate that turns out a little wrong is far better than nothing: Work and Income says your debt will usually be less than if you do not declare any income.

Records to keep

Work and Income asks for two numbers each week: your pay before tax, or your rate, and your hours. A simple daily record makes both easy, especially when a pay period does not line up with a Monday to Sunday week.

• For each day you work: the date, the employer, your start and finish times, unpaid breaks and your hourly rate.
• Each week: the total hours and pay for Monday to Sunday, and what you declared.
• Every payslip, so you can check the real figure against your estimate and correct it.
• Each declaration: the date you made it and the amount, with a screenshot or a note of any reference.
• If you are self-employed: your invoices, receipts for expenses and bank statements, because Work and Income may ask for your accounts.

Keeping your own timesheet in New Zealand covers what to write down each day, and Job hunting on Jobseeker Support covers the rest of life on the benefit.