Although Duncan Smith's replacement at the DWP, Stephen Crabb, did not mention in-work conditionality by name in his first major speech this week, he described the initiative positively as "a human being in the jobcentre staying with you as you move into work and progress, coaching you, mentoring you, supporting you".
By May, in-work conditionality will have been imposed on 15,000 low-paid workers in a handful of trial areas across the UK.
The Public and Commercial Services Union – which represents over 80,000 people in the DWP – told VICE they were concerned about "the big impact" in-work conditionality would have upon its members, insisting extending the sanctions regime to those already in work represents an "expensive" and "irrational" move.
In-work conditionality may prove to be the bridge too far for Tory welfare "reform".
If you're thinking this doesn't affect you, I'm sorry to say that might change, with the government planning to roll out "in-work conditionality".
In-work conditionality will be defined by an earnings threshold, the equivalent of a 35-hour week on the national minimum wage (currently £212.80).
I don't know what the in-work conditionality would have to be called for parents to stand together against it: I'd sooner not find out.
These are battles for the future, and I would have them 1,000 times rather than watch unfold the nightmare of "in-work conditionality".
The fines, part of a little-known "in-work conditionality" programme introduced by the then work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, have been called "political dynamite" by academics, who warn that it may undermine unemployed people taking low-paid jobs.
