what do i do if i'm made redundant???

ralphy

with next year looking gloomy jobwise for alot of people i wanted to ask if i was made redundant what do i do??

i've never been unemployed before so wanted to find out what the process in advance just in case the worst case scenario happens and i find myself unemployed in the future.

do i just walk into the job centre the next day and ask for job seekers allowance?? do i have to be unemployed for an amount of time before i can apply for it? how much do you get for jobseekers allowance? am i entitled to any other financial help? how do i continue to pay my rent and other bills like my loan, credit card, catalogues, gas, water, electric, council tax etc when i don't have a monthly income?

i've been in my current job for nearly 3 years, i have no savings to fall back on either. i share a house with a friend and we go half on the bills.

any advice will be most helpful

alyth

I was made redundant in June, temped for a while, lost my job after 3 months last month and have just gained a permanent job, so I can only give you my personal experience. I never bothered to sign on until last week, despite the fact I've had about a month off in total between temp jobs over the last 6 months - I have savings so just used them.

There's a telephone number that you call - you'll be taken through about an hour's conversation regarding your income, savings, dependents, etc. You then receive an appointment to go to the job centre. I only did this last week and I've gotta say, the advisor I saw was absolutely fantastic. I sat opposite two guys who were discussing the drugs that they'd scored in the local prison, so be prepared to see the other side of life! from my basic experience (I live on my own) I could claim housing benefit, and the jobseekers' allowance was £60.50 per week. In Scotland it takes up to two weeks to process your claim, and the advisor was kind enough to ask me whether I needed a crisis loan!

Register with agencies, give the work out that you're looking for work - search jobsites constantly, and I really do mean every hour. As an example, I finished my temp contract at lunchtime last Tuesday. I rang the unemployment people, every agency I knew, friends, searched through sites. Saw the ad for my job on Wed, sent off my CV 5pm Wed. They rang me 10.30 Thursday, had the interview 3pm Friday, was offered the job and started on Monday - and I'm now receiving tons of CVs in for the job that I'm doing because people were not quick enough off the ball.

I wish you luck, it takes ages searching through job sites, I'm sure there are websites that will advise you on what you are entitled to, you should get some redundacy from your current employers, so that will be a bit of a cushion, perhaps look at taking payment holidays from your debts - I'm sorry I don't have any debts but I guess if you are made redundant, then post on the DFW part of this site.

Don't panic, that's the main thing. Things happen for a reason, perhaps look at ways at the moment of making yourself more employable, through courses, further advancement at work - taking on new projects, etc?

ralphy

thank you for your advice, hopefully i won't need it but you just never can tell and i'd rather be in the know before it happens than after.

good luck with your new job

:beer:

ralphy

oh by the way, the telephone number you mention, is that for the local job centre nearest to me??