The Job Centre aka The Joke Shop.....

passatrider

wxmlad wrote: »

quite right , just like you and others are entitled to your opinion about the 'jobshop', so am i and other ,who have every right to defend staff, as stated earlier I was accused of 'genralising', YET you and others are allowed to do exactly the same to us, however we seem to have no right what so ever to defend ourselfs?

The POINTs I have been trying to make for the past few days which seems to be quite hard for some people to grasp?

1. the first reply i made was we are very busy and under a lot of pressure, we have no extra staff to cope and the few new memebers have not had any time for training.

2. this was follwed up with 'the memeber of staff is brain dead' bascially.

3. this then was quite rightly followed by a comment stating you cannot pick and choose jobs or you will loose benefit. The law NOT our decsion

4. I then explained the kind of abuse we receive daily (the mantra as you call it) to one gentleman in particular this seemed to be a joke, and perfectly acceptable and if we did like the abuse 'to get another job' . In other words you work in the jobcentre this is how you should be treated, you have no rights.

5. I have on several occasions ib this thread 'not generalised' and stated that not all claimants are like this, and follwed this by descirbing how we aim to help customers .

6. there is no 'fall back' position, if you read carefully you will see this is in direct reply to cyclonebri1's comments, which were patronsing and be-belittling, and served only one purpose to wind us up.

7. Job centre staff dont proclaim to be fantastic , we do however treat all of of custoemrs fairly and deal with all claims within the guidelines of the law, the vast majoirty of our customers have no complaints, the only ones that do are the ones who do not want to adhear to the guidelines set out (not by us). We do NOT go out of our way to make anyones life who is claiming difficult, or cause them finacial hardship because of our own personal opinion. Any deductions, suspension of benefit is stricktly in accordance with the social security law.

When a customer comes in and explains his diffuclty, and is worried about supporting his family, we dont think ' oh god what an idiot, lets see if we can pi$$ him off' , we actually feel compassion for them and want to help, many of us have ben in the same position too.

8. If anyone has any issues with a member of staff at the jobcentre, where they feel they are not doing their job properly please speak to the manager and put it in writing, this will be delt with very seriously - believe me!

9. We are at the jobcentre to provide a service, and as stated several times, noone has anyright what so ever to subject us to physical and verbal abuse. ( not generalising or bulling this comment across) If you were in ajob and you had this off anyone you would be saying exactly the same.

10. if all information we request ( as per the guidelines, not so we have some light reading at lunch time) is provided , the jobseeker is actively seeking work there is no problem.


11. i have answered JSA questions on here in other threads, whislt being impartial and gave advice to people, and have not criticised them.

im sorry if some people have not received a satisfactory services from us when they have signed on, but please do take this up with the job centre/district manager and it WILL be looked in to and you will be kept informed along the way .

Well said!

hanny83_2

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

And I totally agree with you, sense at last. But would you use your position to push the argument?

If you can qoute one instance of wxmlad going beyond the call to help, well I'll withdraw.

I can't link the threads as it would take me forever to go through them but I'm pretty sure that there are some threads wxmlad has advised on the Benefits Board.

I think that there is a difference between using your position to push an argument (although myself, i would class this as a discussion) and trying to justify how hard the staff work with fairly limited resources. The more people (including staff) highlight the problems within Jobcentreplus (allbeit these should be highlighted to the Jobcentre management) there more that people can be persuaded to try and act in regards to contacting management.

I think all wxmlad was trying to do was to say to the OP that he is sorry that the OP felt that the JC staff were unhelpful but that in the 5 minutes signing on time set by the government to it their targets, the staff have to ask these menial questions as unfortunately they don't get in-depth discussion time with the staff apart from a 40 min interview every 3 months.

I think that this could be part of the problem where things are seemimgly going wrong, and wxmlad was only stating out how frustrating it is for both jobseekers and staff. I'm sure wxmlad will correct me if I'm wrong.

movingforward2010

Richard_Cocks wrote: »

The worst were the types who would do their best to try and refuse your claim, to the point where it felt like their job descriptions were "save the govt money" not "find these people jobs", and would ask all kinds of questions but never actually thought about finding jobs.

.

we will never refuse any one benefit if they are entitled to it. But quite rightly so we do have a job to protect your money - the tax payer, and I think everyone feels the same about this, this is why we follow the guidelines with regards to suspension of benefit where appropriate.

the majority of us do remain impartial and do not let our personal feelings get in the way. The person who is very polite to us but has not been seeking work for instance will get the same suspension on their claim as the person who told me to F*** off last week for the same reason.

movingforward2010

hanny83 wrote: »

I can't link the threads as it would take me forever to go through them but I'm pretty sure that there are some threads wxmlad has advised on the Benefits Board. there was one just the other day with regards to the rapid reclaiming linking, and mortgage interest help

I think that there is a difference between using your position to push an argument (although myself, i would class this as a discussion) and trying to justify how hard the staff work with fairly limited resources. The more people (including staff) highlight the problems within Jobcentreplus (allbeit these should be highlighted to the Jobcentre management) there more that people can be persuaded to try and act in regards to contacting management.

I think all wxmlad was trying to do was to say to the OP that he is sorry that the OP felt that the JC staff were unhelpful but that in the 5 minutes signing on time set by the government to it their targets, the staff have to ask these menial questions as unfortunately they don't get in-depth discussion time with the staff apart from a 40 min interview every 3 months.

I think that this could be part of the problem where things are seemimgly going wrong, and wxmlad was only stating out how frustrating it is for both jobseekers and staff. I'm sure wxmlad will correct me if I'm wrong.

exactly, we are nice people really and so are most jobseekers that come in

Richard_Cocks

wxmlad wrote: »

we will never refuse any one benefit if they are entitled to it. But quite rightly so we do have a job to protect your money - the tax payer, and I think everyone feels the same about this, this is why we follow the guidelines with regards to suspension of benefit where appropriate.

I don't disagree, but it would be helpful if the whole JSA thing was split into two separate functions in 2 separate locations.

1) a Social Security office which dealt with handing out benefits and checking people were looking for jobs. Everyone would have to go there and sign in every 2 weeks. Job hunting would be "proved" in the usual ways, including but not neccessarily visiting the job centre (a separate entity!). This could be open the usual rubbish 10-4 weekdays.

2) a job centre, staffed by people who wanted to help people find jobs, and visited only by those who actually want to be there. The fact only people who wanted to be there would be, would help create a much better atmosphere for those who wanted to find work, and might encourage employers to actually advertise there! This should be open 24/7 for those who actually want to find work. Checking in there twice a week could be used for "proof" for part (1).

Separating out job hunting and benefits would help reduce the treadmill feel of the current "job centre plus", which is a horrible de-motive place. Given the optional nature of the proposed job centre it would also mean people wouldn't be pressured into accepting unsuitable work, and would help staff not feel they're forced to offer unsuitable work because it wouldn't be their job to determine whether the person is "work-shy" or not.

The current system is not the staff's fault but it's only going to get worse as the claimant count increases. The fact that none of my fellow graduates bothered to even sign on when they were looking for work post-uni is a strong statement about their feelings of JC+/JSA.

movingforward2010

Richard_Cocks wrote: »

I don't disagree, but it would be helpful if the whole JSA thing was split into two separate functions in 2 separate locations.

1) a Social Security office which dealt with handing out benefits and checking people were looking for jobs. Everyone would have to go there and sign in every 2 weeks. Job hunting would be "proved" in the usual ways, including but not neccessarily visiting the job centre (a separate entity!). This could be open the usual rubbish 10-4 weekdays.

2) a job centre, staffed by people who wanted to help people find jobs, and visited only by those who actually want to be there. The fact only people who wanted to be there would be, would help create a much better atmosphere for those who wanted to find work, and might encourage employers to actually advertise there! This should be open 24/7 for those who actually want to find work. Checking in there twice a week could be used for "proof" for part (1).

Separating out job hunting and benefits would help reduce the treadmill feel of the current "job centre plus", which is a horrible de-motive place. Given the optional nature of the proposed job centre it would also mean people wouldn't be pressured into accepting unsuitable work, and would help staff not feel they're forced to offer unsuitable work because it wouldn't be their job to determine whether the person is "work-shy" or not.

The current system is not the staff's fault but it's only going to get worse as the claimant count increases. The fact that none of my fellow graduates bothered to even sign on when they were looking for work post-uni is a strong statement about their feelings of JC+/JSA.

i do agree to an extent, the problem with jc staff having such little time to with customers stems from the fact the the government has closed all the small jobcentres in little towns, where before it seemed a little more personal and we knew who came in and exactly what job they were after, for instances in a JC in a little town which remain unnamed, the staff actually used to post out details of suitable jobs that came up to customers , now this jobcentre with loads of others have been closed down, and we know have 3,4 or 5 merged together, with less staff.

I know in wales the government have actually changed the system slightly to get customers to ring up the benefit delivery centre to ask questions, makes changes to their claim etc, rather than visit the jobcentre, as there was problems with some customers coming in to use the phones provided for other purposes and waiting around all day - not going to say what, but it wasnt for ringing employers! but i think a few can guess

At the job centre no claims are processed or maintained and no benefit is directly paid except for emergency counter payments, all the JC do is make sure the customer signs and they have actively been seeking work, everything else and maintenance is done at the BDC usually off site.

we do need more advisors , but we are likely to have less and less as the government continue to cut out jobs by the thousands as done previously, which of course leads to all the problems discussed in this thread, and of course if we have a customer spending longer than the 5 min time slot given it causes a delay all day and people get unhappy and irate about it - quite understandably , its really quite akward sometimes, but we do want to help where we can so i do sympathise

mvengemvenge

Richard_Cocks wrote: »

I don't disagree, but it would be helpful if the whole JSA thing was split into two separate functions in 2 separate locations.

1) a Social Security office which dealt with handing out benefits and checking people were looking for jobs. Everyone would have to go there and sign in every 2 weeks. Job hunting would be "proved" in the usual ways, including but not neccessarily visiting the job centre (a separate entity!). This could be open the usual rubbish 10-4 weekdays.

2) a job centre, staffed by people who wanted to help people find jobs, and visited only by those who actually want to be there. The fact only people who wanted to be there would be, would help create a much better atmosphere for those who wanted to find work, and might encourage employers to actually advertise there! This should be open 24/7 for those who actually want to find work. Checking in there twice a week could be used for "proof" for part (1).

Separating out job hunting and benefits would help reduce the treadmill feel of the current "job centre plus", which is a horrible de-motive place. Given the optional nature of the proposed job centre it would also mean people wouldn't be pressured into accepting unsuitable work, and would help staff not feel they're forced to offer unsuitable work because it wouldn't be their job to determine whether the person is "work-shy" or not.

The current system is not the staff's fault but it's only going to get worse as the claimant count increases. The fact that none of my fellow graduates bothered to even sign on when they were looking for work post-uni is a strong statement about their feelings of JC+/JSA.

Talk to your MP...

Job Centres and Benefit Offices have been split-up, brought together, split-up, brought together differenly....

It goes on and on with various governments who have a new 'big idea'. Just as staff start to get used to one system, the government change it again, and regulations change regularly. It's impossible for staff to keep up.

cyclonebri1

passatrider wrote: »

How do you know I'm not out of work already..there you go assuming you know what you are talking about yet no nothing about the facts?

if you are you have my deepest condolences, you may find yourself in the hands of the Lad, god forbid.

All the assumptions have been made by "the lad";)

cyclonebri1

wxmlad wrote: »

i do agree to an extent, the problem with jc staff having such little time to with customers stems from the fact the the government has closed all the small jobcentres in little towns, where before it seemed a little more personal and we knew who came in and exactly what job they were after, for instances in a JC in a little town which remain unnamed, the staff actually used to post out details of suitable jobs that came up to customers , now this jobcentre with loads of others have been closed down, and we know have 3,4 or 5 merged together, with less staff.

I know in wales the government have actually changed the system slightly to get customers to ring up the benefit delivery centre to ask questions, makes changes to their claim etc, rather than visit the jobcentre, as there was problems with some customers coming in to use the phones provided for other purposes and waiting around all day - not going to say what, but it wasnt for ringing employers! but i think a few can guess

At the job centre no claims are processed or maintained and no benefit is directly paid except for emergency counter payments, all the JC do is make sure the customer signs and they have actively been seeking work, everything else and maintenance is done at the BDC usually off site.

we do need more advisors , but we are likely to have less and less as the government continue to cut out jobs by the thousands as done previously, which of course leads to all the problems discussed in this thread, and of course if we have a customer spending longer than the 5 min time slot given it causes a delay all day and people get unhappy and irate about it - quite understandably , its really quite akward sometimes, but we do want to help where we can so i do sympathise

:T :T :T :T :T :T


Somehow I don't think so.
If your 1st point is the case, how can you pretend to sympathise after your previous posts?

passatrider

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

if you are you have my deepest condolences, you may find yourself in the hands of the Lad, god forbid.

All the assumptions have been made by "the lad";)

'Last of The Summer Wine' finished then?;)