What is JSA under the hardship provision?

Hi

What is JSA under the hardship provision?

I am single and live in rented (council) accommodation.

The reason I ask is because I received a letter today saying that they (job centre) have evidence that I refused to accept a job offer opportunity. And if I don't have a good reason my JSA will be affected and I will have to claim JSA under the hardship provision.

Reading on, the reason seems to be that on 31 August, while I was signing on, they printed the details of a job and I did not apply for it. I am not too worried about that, as the job was advertised by a recruitment agency, for a company in a city 15 miles from me. When I told them I relied on public transport and the earliest I could get into the city, to the main bus station, was 8:45 they said the job was across the city from the bus station and if I was at the bus station at 8:45 there was no way I could get to the job on time. So, don't even bother to apply for it, you can't get there in time.

What does worry me is that I really want a job, and I get the guy to print out any job description that looks remotely suitable. But more than half of them get binned without being applied for because when I get home a I find a reason for them not being suitable. Either I find I can't get there, or can't get back, or when I ring up for an app form I find they want someone with a skill or experience I don't have and they say I have no chance of getting the job.

I've never kept a record of the jobs I didn't apply for, only those I did. So if they go through all the ones that were printed out for me I will never remember the reasons why I didn't apply for them.

So, according to the letter, I could get my JSA stopped and be given a claim form for JSA under the hardship provision, but what exactly does that mean?
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Comments

  • tsimehC
    tsimehC Posts: 763 Forumite
    You should always apply for jobs given by the JCP, suitable or not. I know it's a little too late but remember that in the future. It's not worth the trouble. :/

    As for hardship, I believe that you get up to 40% of your normal JSA rate until your sanction ends. I would also put in an appeal against the original decision but make sure you get some legal advice from somewhere like Citizen's Advice on how best to present your case.
  • geordie_joe
    geordie_joe Posts: 9,112
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    tsimehC wrote: »
    You should always apply for jobs given by the JCP, suitable or not. I know it's a little too late but remember that in the future. It's not worth the trouble. :/

    Thanks, I will from now on, but they didn't tell me that I had to apply for every job I expressed an interest in at the time. If they had I would have wrote the reason I didn't apply for the job on the sheet and kept it. They only told me to keep a record of every job I apply for so I could prove I was looking for work.
    tsimehC wrote: »
    As for hardship, I believe that you get up to 40% of your normal JSA rate until your sanction ends. I would also put in an appeal against the original decision but make sure you get some legal advice from somewhere like Citizen's Advice on how best to present your case.

    Oh dear, I can't live on 40% of JSA, so if the worst happens I will be seeking professional advice.

    Thanks for your reply.
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,925 Forumite
    tsimehC wrote: »
    You should always apply for jobs given by the JCP, suitable or not. I know it's a little too late but remember that in the future. It's not worth the trouble. :/

    As for hardship, I believe that you get up to 40% of your normal JSA rate until your sanction ends. I would also put in an appeal against the original decision but make sure you get some legal advice from somewhere like Citizen's Advice on how best to present your case.

    I think you mean 40% off the normal rate? ;)
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  • jay_1978
    jay_1978 Posts: 196 Forumite
    edited 2 December 2010 at 11:04PM
    This whole thing sounds dodgy to me, Now every job the jobcentre have give me I have applied for, However some of them are to call the agency or the company, If they then say "ok send us your cv by mail, or were still taking applicants" How can I prove that ? If I was you mate I would seriously kick up a huge fuss and talk about taking this alot further, This is just one of those excuses they are looking for, Don't they know what having no money will do to someone ? It annoys the !!!! out of me this, Basically I think they are trying it on and if you say your going to take it further by either seeing your mp or start talking about your human rights being infringed then I think they will back down .. Good luck mate

    Oh and I am sure hardship is about £50 a week
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,925 Forumite
    jay_1978 wrote: »
    This whole thing sounds dodgy to me, Now every job the jobcentre have give me I have applied for, However some of them are to call the agency or the company, If they then say "ok send us your cv by mail, or were still taking applicants" How can I prove that ? If I was you mate I would seriously kick up a huge fuss and talk about taking this alot further, This is just one of those excuses they are looking for, Don't they know what having no money will do to someone ? It annoys the !!!! out of me this, Basically I think they are trying it on and if you say your going to take it further by either seeing your mp or start talking about your human rights being infringed then I think they will back down .. Good luck mate

    Oh and I am sure hardship is about £50 a week

    If you send your cv by mail you can get proof of postage, or even just an email from the agency to prove that they have received it.

    If the OP is 25 or over, single and with no disability, the hardship rate is £39.27 per week.
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  • jay_1978
    jay_1978 Posts: 196 Forumite
    dmg24 wrote: »
    If you send your cv by mail you can get proof of postage, or even just an email from the agency to prove that they have received it.

    If the OP is 25 or over, single and with no disability, the hardship rate is £39.27 per week.


    Ok I appreciate your reply but I am not sure what agency's you have used. I have applied for many vacancies through different agency's by phone and they say " Ok give me your name and number and We'll get back to you " But then they don't, What proof would I have to say I called ? I do think the jobcentre are really trying it on here with this. I understand they want you in work and some people try it on but surely they should aim for those who have never paid a penny into the system, It seems folk who have worked hard in the past and paid taxes into the system but are now on hard times are the ones being caught in this perverse system, Like I have already said I have applied for loads via agency's and I may not have kept copy's in the past but I do now, Does this mean Its my own fault if I cannot prove a accusation from the jobcentre that I have not applied for a certain vacancy ? I am sorry but it sounds screwed up to me and I hope the OP gets in to the JC and puts the scares up them, They will back down then
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,925 Forumite
    jay_1978 wrote: »
    Ok I appreciate your reply but I am not sure what agency's you have used. I have applied for many vacancies through different agency's by phone and they say " Ok give me your name and number and We'll get back to you " But then they don't, What proof would I have to say I called ? I do think the jobcentre are really trying it on here with this. I understand they want you in work and some people try it on but surely they should aim for those who have never paid a penny into the system, It seems folk who have worked hard in the past and paid taxes into the system but are now on hard times are the ones being caught in this perverse system, Like I have already said I have applied for loads via agency's and I may not have kept copy's in the past but I do now, Does this mean Its my own fault if I cannot prove a accusation from the jobcentre that I have not applied for a certain vacancy ? I am sorry but it sounds screwed up to me and I hope the OP gets in to the JC and puts the scares up them, They will back down then

    I would keep records of all calls, who I spoke to etc. I would do this as standard whether I needed it for the JCP or not, then when you get a call back you know what you have done with that application to date. It is a good habit to get into, and will make you look much more organised and professional.

    In the OP's case all they need to do is prove that they spoke to the agency (I assume it was the agency that said it would be too far?), and they said it was not worth applying. Even if the agency will not provide this information, he should be able to show that he called by producing an itemised bill.
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  • NickyBat
    NickyBat Posts: 857 Forumite
    I notice that generally the replies are to have a go at the jobcentre, what you all seem to forget is that these rules come from above ie the government, they are not made by jc staff - they just have to follow them, and whilst getting in touch with your local MP is a great idea maybe you need to be asking them why they voted these rules through in the first place.
  • Hammyman
    Hammyman Posts: 9,913 Forumite
    Hi
    When I told them I relied on public transport and the earliest I could get into the city, to the main bus station, was 8:45 they said the job was across the city from the bus station and if I was at the bus station at 8:45 there was no way I could get to the job on time. So, don't even bother to apply for it, you can't get there in time.

    Sorry, rubbish excuse. I live in the middle of nowhere in a rural county in the north of England with a total population of 300,000, 11,000 of those in my small town. We get two buses an hour - one in each direction. First bus is at 6.05am.

    So yes, you could have got to work but you'd just have to get up earlier. And before you start bleating on about it taking an hour to work, thats the normal commuting time for millions of people in this country with millions sometimes doing more.
  • geordie_joe
    geordie_joe Posts: 9,112
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    Hammyman wrote: »
    Sorry, rubbish excuse.

    There's always one!

    what would you know, you don't live in dorset. I can tell you now, down here the buses in rural dorset are far worse than they are in rural parts of the NE. I know, I come from the NE.

    Hammyman wrote: »
    We get two buses an hour - one in each direction. First bus is at 6.05am.

    I live in a small town in Dorset, the buses to the city in question runs once every two hours. The first one arrives at the city bus station at 8.45

    You might have buses at 6.05am, but our little bus depot doesn't open until 7.00am
    Hammyman wrote: »
    So yes, you could have got to work but you'd just have to get up earlier.

    So no, I couldn't get to work in time, and getting up earlier would not help as the first bus does not arrive in the city in time.
    Hammyman wrote: »
    And before you start bleating on about it taking an hour to work, thats the normal commuting time for millions of people in this country with millions sometimes doing more.

    I wasn't going to bleat on about anything. I didn't care about the time taken to get to work, I've travelled longer than that to get to work.

    If you'd actually read my post, instead of skimming through it looking for things to pick on people for, you would have read that I was told not to apply for it as I would be able to get there in time as there was a further journey after getting to the bus station.

    This was a recruitment agency, they told me not bother. If I had insisted on applying they simply would not have put me forward to the employer.

    As soon as I old them the town I lived in they asked if I had my own transport. When I said no, they said forget it. I have no doubt that they have had many applicants for jobs over the years and knew from previous experience that anyone in my town would not be able to get to that part of the city in time using the buses.
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