The Government’s new Universal Credit welfare system is “punishing the working poor” with new sanctions on people who work full time for low pay, academics have warned.

Universal Credit combines various benefits into one payment and is being rolled out to people both in work and out of work.

But low-paid workers are expected to look for more hours or take on extra jobs to get more cash as a condition of the in-work wage top-ups, and report to regular jobcentre appointments to prove their activities.

People working under 35 hours are expected to find more – meaning even full-time workers on zero hours contracts who sometimes end up with fewer hours in a week can face conditionality.

Workers who miss jobcentre appointments can face sanctions amounting to hundreds of pounds.

The new rules are an extension of the much-criticised sanctions system which has long applied to the unemployed, and which MPs on the work and pensions select committee warned last year could be 'purely punitive'.

“There are concerns that sanctions might lead to a range of unintended consequences, including severe financial hardship and associated wider social impacts,” they said in a report, adding that there was strong academic evidence to suggest that sanctions led to “poorer quality employment, temporary employment or unstable employment”.

Stephen Crabb has said he will not cancel Universal Credit (PA)

Professor Peter Dwyer, of the University of York, who is studying benefit conditionality, told the Guardian newspaper:

“[This] is political dynamite. Does the government want to be associated with punishing the working poor? When this happened with tax credits they were forced to take a step back.”

The newspaper reports an example of a full-time zero-hours bar worker who was fined £218 because she went on a family holiday and did not attend two jobcentre appointments.

The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimant’s wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks’ time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his father’s funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a week’s work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didn’t want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didn’t have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images

To make matters worse, the Chancellor George Osborne has also cut work allowances for UC before the system is even rolled out.

This means that low-paid workers can work fewer hours before the money is clawed back, making it less attractive to take additional hours.

The Government also effectively rolled its tax credit cuts for low paid workers into Universal Credit, which is set to come full online just before the 2020 general election.

Universal Credit, which has been beset by delays and other problems, was the pet project of former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. Mr Duncan Smith resigned after the most recent Budget, arguing that the Government was balancing the books on the back of the most vulnerable in society.

The new Work and Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb, signalled in a speech earlier this week that he would not cancel the programme, however.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “It is right that for the first time ever we are supporting claimants who are in low paid work to increase their earnings and progress in their careers.