Traffic light system

When you're on a benefit, there are things you or your partner need to do (your obligations). We have a traffic light colour system to help you stay on track with some of your obligations.

Traffic light system in other languages and alternate formats
Information

Most people who get Supported Living Payment are not in the traffic light system.

More information

The traffic light system lets you know where you're at and what you need to do.

  • Green: If you're at green, you're on track and meeting your obligations.
  • Orange: You'll move to orange if you don't meet your obligations and you don't have a good reason. This means you need to contact us straight away. If you don't contact us and get back on track within 5 working days, you'll move to red.
  • Red: Once you're at red, your benefit will reduce or stop. This means you need to contact us immediately to get back on track.

If there's any reason why you can't meet your obligations, talk to us straight away. If you haven't been in touch, we'll try and contact you before you move to orange, to find out why you haven't met your obligations.

We'll send you a letter to let you know if you're at orange or red. You can also see in MyMSD what traffic light colour you're at. 

Who the traffic light system is for

You'll be in the traffic light system if you have work-related and/or social obligations, which are:

  • find or prepare for work
  • take part in Work Ability Assessments, to help us understand what kind of work you can do
  • take part in activities with our service providers, to find a job or prepare for work
  • social obligations (when taking care of dependent children).

Benefits with work-related and/or social obligations

You or your partner will have work-related and/or social obligations if you get one of these benefits:

  • Jobseeker Support, or
  • Sole Parent Support.

If your partner is under 18, they won't have work-related obligations.

You or your partner may have work-related and/or social obligations if you get either:

  • Emergency Benefit, or
  • Emergency Maintenance Allowance.

You will have other obligations as well. To find out what happens if you or your partner don't meet your other obligations, see 'When you don't meet your obligations'.

Supported Living Payment

Most people who get Supported Living Payment are not in the traffic light system. This is because you do not have an obligation to find work.

You will only be in the traffic light system if:

  • you're taking care of dependent children, because this means you have social obligations (taking reasonable steps to make sure children get health checks and education)
  • it has been assessed you can prepare for work and we have discussed this with you (very few people have this), or
  • we've asked you to take part in a Work Ability Assessment or to work with a contracted service provider (very few people are asked to do this).

If you have a partner, their obligations are likely to be different. This means they could be included in the traffic light system, even if you’re not.

Obligations for Supported Living Payment
Supported Living Payment obligations for partners

If you're at orange or red

Information

You need to contact us straight away.

We'll help you get back on track so you can move back to green.

When you move back to green, we may set you more activities to do so you continue to meet your obligations.

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. 

If you disagree with our decision

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.

Review of decision