Signing on and refusing jobs that are too little money

honeypop

I have just been made redundant and will probably be leaving the workplace next week. I have income protection insurance that will pay out almost as much as my current take-home pay, paid monthly in arrears on receipt of evidence that I have signed on for a full month (for 6 months max).

My query is, with a mortgage/bills to pay for, and I am pregnant, I still need to be earning pretty much what I'm on now to survive and the insurance will cover this, but from what I can gather when you sign on as unemployed you are expected to take whatever job you can reasonably do. I understand this and the reasons why, but are you still expected to take it if it is not enough for you to cover all outgoings? If I took a job simply because I could do it although it wasn't enough money, I'd be seriously short each month, whereas if I hadn't taken it, the insurance would be paying me what I am entitled to and covering my bills until I found a job which was a good enough salary.

I think (in a rambling way) what I need to know is, I need to be in receipt of JSA for the insurance to kick in, but is it correct that JSA will be stopped if I turned down jobs that are too low in salary?

If so, I'm a bit stuffed and the insurance was pointless to take out really.

jobbingmusician

What sort of qualifications do you have?

I have been on JSA for a year now, and haven't had any real hassle from the job centre, or pressure to apply for lower paid jobs. But I do have an MBA and a master's degree, which I think is helping. I keep getting shortlisted and right down to the last 2 or 3..........

honeypop

No qualification such as degree etc, I'm an Office Manager mainly dealing with financial affairs of the company, no accounting quals as such as I wasn't interested in that area at first, it's just what I ended up in, just have the 8 years experience rather than quals.

jobbingmusician

You might have a bit more of a problem then. I did have one stupid conversation with a job centre numpty. We were searching for jobs together and I said I would not apply for jobs at £20k. She said that some secretaries had worked their way through a company, earned £50k and then been made redundant, and were unable to get a job at the same level. I pointed out that I had studied and got good qualifications to back up my employment level, and she said 'yes, well, yours isn't quite the same case'. :mad: So why mention it then?

However, this conversation didn't take place until I had been unemployed and looking for over 6 months.........

Anyway, sorry that this is probably not what you wanted to hear. How about finding out about qualifications while you are free to do some study

Js_Other_Half

How pg are you? I'd be very inclined to make sure any clothing I'd wear to the job centre/interviews emphasised it;)

Edited to say I've just realised you're not very far on into the pg.

Hope someone else has more info for you.

ruby_eskimo

As someone who is currently unemployed also, I think it really depends on who you see at the job centre. The first person I saw understood my position (recent graduate and looking for a job) and would only recommend jobs she thought I would be interested in rather than everything under the sun that seems to be the approach of other people there. However the person i'm seeing at the moment seems to be of the "so what you have a degree, go and work as a cleaner" attitude, which I don't appreciate since I have admin experience etc.

I wish you the best of luck looking for work, I would say that yes you can rightly refuse jobs that wont pay as much as you would like because of the situation you are in, however after a while it may be a case of trying to get money from anywhere really.

Oldernotwiser

You're unlikely to get too much pressure for the first 6 months, provided you play the game by the rules.

norfolkshops

I have been on JSA for a year now, and haven't had any real hassle from the job centre, or pressure to apply for lower paid jobs--why not you work shy maybe?????

clairec79

When you make your jobseekers agreement get them to put in a minimum wage - this will only stay for the first 3 or 6 months . However the wage has to be realistic and related to your old job - so if you were on £25,000 before you couldn't say I need £50,000 a year but you could say £25,000 (or less if you are willing to go less)

However once past a certain point you'd be expected to accept less

honeypop

Thanks guys, some helpful words from people that have been there, done that. At least I know now that some element of refusal is allowed within reason, just what I needed to know.

jobbingmusician wrote: »

How about finding out about qualifications while you are free to do some study

Am looking into this, however I don’t hope to be out of work long enough to complete a course!

Js_Other_Half wrote: »

How pg are you? I'd be very inclined to make sure any clothing I'd wear to the job centre/interviews emphasised it

I’m only 9 weeks, but I was thinking of going along the same lines as your suggestion if I had to lol.

norfolkshops wrote: »

I have been on JSA for a year now, and haven't had any real hassle from the job centre, or pressure to apply for lower paid jobs--why not you work shy maybe?????

Are you asking if I am work shy? I explained why I can’t apply for lower paid jobs, working to earn less than I need would be silly while my insurance could be paying out what I DO need instead.

clairec79 wrote: »

When you make your jobseekers agreement get them to put in a minimum wage - this will only stay for the first 3 or 6 months . However the wage has to be realistic and related to your old job - so if you were on £25,000 before you couldn't say I need £50,000 a year but you could say £25,000 (or less if you are willing to go less)

However once past a certain point you'd be expected to accept less

Thank you, I didn’t realise I could do this, I thought you had to take whatever you could do regardless of the wage. I am currently on £30,000 so would be pointless accepting a £15k office job for example as the insurance would pay more than that. However I have worked out a minimum I could earn and still get by, so will use that and hope I can get something somewhere.

After 6 months of job hunting I would be giving up anyway as the baby would be due soon. I am hoping really to get a 6 month temp contract that I can start asap, all this is just incase that doesn’t materialise

Horace

Honeypop, go and register yourself with an agency for temp work (this often pays more than JSA anyway), you should be able to pick up jobs in your field and to be honest with you experience counts over qualifications.

As for the jobcentre - some advisors will push you into anything even when you have professional qualifications. One of my friends recently landed herself a job working for JLP, admittedly it is only part time and temporary and her advisor turned round and said "don't take it you'd be better off on benefits" - well the job has been taken because it is a toe in the door and gives recent work experience.

Oh and there's another thing that the jobcentre won't tell you either - they will make a contribution to fares to get to the interview, can provide you with money up to £100 to buy some clothes from Topshop or Burton to wear for your interview or at work. In some instances (I know they do in Birmingham) will give you a month's bus pass.

Good Luck.