Is the Jobcentre useless?

lili2008

sigrid wrote: »

common sense like that may well get you a job! :T

Lol, I think it has.

What do you think about my AO interview thing? Should I go or cancel?

busy_mom_2

Horace wrote: »

Aah but Zappster a lot of the criticism levelled here is justified.




Civil servants have a good ride - they get days off for sports days (not taken from holiday), they get days off for fun - usually accommodated in University accommodation whilst they lark about playing rounders and boozing to excess. They also have discounted theatre tickets, the use of Civil Service yachts - there are about 6 of them some of which are used for racing and others general cruising. I know about the yachts because I have been on them myself (its handy knowing a civil servant:D). So don't kid me that they get a tough ride because they don't.

well please get me on that yaught because jobcentre workers never get on it or if you know any different pls tell me how to:rolleyes:

as for days off for sports days yes I wish i have booked two mornings off this morning for my boys induction into school and they certainly came off my annual leave, doctors or detal appoinments even have to come off our holiday or flexi entitlement, yes flexi is a good condition of the job but only for the department to get out of paying us over time, i work part time and now up to 34 in flexi leave which i am supposed to be allowed to take off yet every tiem I have the time booked it gets cancelled last minute:mad:
we can only work with the crap computer systems we are given, the under funded and oversubscribed provision and the rules layed down by the goverment not open this magic cash box that people seem to think sits under my desk:rotfl:

lili2008

technik wrote: »

It must be different here in Northern Ireland.

We don't sign on in Job Centres. They are simply there to have job boards and computer systems. They have staff too who you can ask questions to.

There is a dedicated social security office in many towns that deals with signing on and interviews for new claims and stuff like income support. These people generally are paper pushers. They don't seem to give anyone any hassle from my experience in the past.

That reminds me of many years ago when I lived in a Lancashire village and people sent off a slip every fortnight then picked up their money from the local post office. Part of the deal was travelling to the nearest big town to look at job boards but there seemed to be very little scrutiny or pressure. That was about the time that the depression of 80s joblessness hit the north. Things have changed since then.

Horace

busy_mom wrote: »

well please get me on that yaught because jobcentre workers never get on it or if you know any different pls tell me how to:rolleyes:

as for days off for sports days yes I wish i have booked two mornings off this morning for my boys induction into school and they certainly came off my annual leave, doctors or detal appoinments even have to come off our holiday or flexi entitlement, yes flexi is a good condition of the job but only for the department to get out of paying us over time, i work part time and now up to 34 in flexi leave which i am supposed to be allowed to take off yet every tiem I have the time booked it gets cancelled last minute:mad:
we can only work with the crap computer systems we are given, the under funded and oversubscribed provision and the rules layed down by the goverment not open this magic cash box that people seem to think sits under my desk:rotfl:

Join HASSRA and you can get days off to go and play rounders and the like for the civil service I know that folks from the jobcentres go because last year my chap (visiting from London) got a coach from Birmingham to Swansea with the jobcentre crowd for a couple of days boozing and playing rounders and other silly stuff (mid week too). Also you can join the Civil Service Sports Association and do lots of stuff with them including going on their yachts:rolleyes:

johnnymorrison

Not sure if this is directly applicable to you but I am trying to warn as many people as possible the dire consequences of claiming Job Seekers Allowance and trying to do any self employed work.

BE WARNED! I started doing some part time self employed work whilst claiming JSA. Everything was declared and I submitted what I had earned each time I signed on. Over the last 11 weeks my earnings combined with my benefit is LESS THAN the minimum you would get if you did no work and simply claimed benefit! This means you have to survive on much less than the law says you need to live on, in my case I averaged just £47! per week. The benefit department simply says it averages your earned incom over 52 weeks because you are self employed. I am appealing and intend to address this at ministerial level if I fail as I consider it ludicrous that by working and saving the government money in the weeks that I earn something, I actually put myself at risk of extreme poverty. My advice is DO NOT take self employed work unless you are absolutely sure you will get more than the benefit entitlement every single week you are self employed. Unless someone can advise me how the self employed part time worker can lower their dietry requirements or source lower gas/electricity prices than the rest to survive on LESS than the lowest benefit level, my advice remains avoid at all costs!

zappster1966

Horace wrote: »

Join HASSRA and you can get days off to go and play rounders and the like for the civil service I know that folks from the jobcentres go because last year my chap (visiting from London) got a coach from Birmingham to Swansea with the jobcentre crowd for a couple of days boozing and playing rounders and other silly stuff (mid week too). Also you can join the Civil Service Sports Association and do lots of stuff with them including going on their yachts:rolleyes:

Hassra & CSSA are paid for via membership subscription by those civil servants who choose to join. Like every other employee they can spend their wages in any way they like.

Unless of course you're now saying that the public should dictate how civil servants spend their wages. If that's the case you can go take a hike.

johnnymorrison

I think the basic problem, and quite frankly the injustice, of the Jobcentre Plus system is that if you make the slightest error you are dealt with harshly with threats of action for fraud etc, however if THEY make an error there appears to be no accountability, they simply shrug it off as a computer/procedural error.In my experience people are often so overwhelmed and dispirited by the endless paper process and severe financial pressures that they are under, they simply fold and go along with any decision. My advice would be to seek independent advice about any dispute(Citizen's advice/ websites like this etc) and if you are in the right-APPEAL the decision. If it's a complaint, make it! But the absolutely wrong response is to get angry and shout at the staff. The reality is they are inputers of information into a complicated paper churning out system, I doubt whether any single person who actually works in the people facing role has any real authority other than to say you have complied or not and refer your claim accordingly.When is the last time you EVER heard of a story when one of these workers said 'That's an absolute injustice, we have failed in our lawful duty to safeguard your rights and will make immediate amends. The person responsible is subject to a disciplinary process for their failings '

No thought not! They are like bad doctors, they bury their mistakes (under a pile of papework), it's never them but the system. No individual , in my experience, is ever held to account for a mistake. If they don't pay you what you are entitled to there is no prosecution against them and no disciplinary action. They know the power lies with them and that's why the nasty ones make you feel so powerless. But you are NOT helpless. Seek independent advice, know your rights, appeal/ complain when appropriate(Asking for the person responsible to be named) and above all keep your cool. Having said all that, I have been helped by some very friendly staff within the department, so to those of you working for Jobcentre Plus and doing your best, thank you.

MRS_TO_BE_2

If the jobcentre and benefits staff are so useless maybe they would all like to stop working overtime on weekends to take new claims and process claims. The pressure from management to work every weekend is immense. Then maybe the true extent of the civil servant job cuts and jobcentre closures that have happened recently will be seen.

wishface

MRS_TO_BE wrote: »

If the jobcentre and benefits staff are so useless maybe they would all like to stop working overtime on weekends to take new claims and process claims. The pressure from management to work every weekend is immense. Then maybe the true extent of the civil servant job cuts and jobcentre closures that have happened recently will be seen.

I don't blame individual staff for the failings of the system: that's down to our inept greedy and craven government.

I do blame them for how they treat people. Its hardly surprising if 'clients' get upset when faced with having nothing to live on after some jobsworth bamboozles them with rules and regulations because they forgot to apply for one job over the last two weeks.

For instance.

In my experience the staff at the jobcentre are liars who twist what is told to them with an agenda that benefits the system and serves only to tick the right boxes. I don't agree with people treating staff badly, but it works both ways.

johnnymorrison

I think a solution to the anger and frustration felt by many people using ,or indeed working in, the Jobcentre Plus system would be to separate the job searching requirement from the entitlement to benefits role. In other words we should go to the Jobcentre to establish a claim and once accepted use existing recruitment agencies as government affiliated agencies. These people know how to find jobs and match people's skills, it would be great if colleges could 'Adopt' those that have identified skill shortages. There must be a lot of spare capacity in the Employment services sector right now, so why not use it to give everyone a thorough interview/cv update and advice re training-career development. The added benfeit to the government would be that they would get detailed feedback on the claimant's efforts to find work and the recruitment agency would have an incentive to find work for the claimant ( Not an incentive to deny benefits).