Pre-Employment Checks and Claiming JSA

phonic

Good afternoon,

I'm hoping someone is able to help me. In January I applied for a job with the Police whilst still employed in my previous position. I was offered the job in February and all the pre-employment checks started. I was given a conditional start date of April 6th and was told my checks had all been returned bar the clearance from Occupational Health but I was told it was a formality and wouldn't be a problem. I held on as long as I could before handing in my notice, my previous employers were very supportive and let me back-date my notice period by 2 weeks.

4 days before I was due to start I received a phone call saying Occupational Health needed a report from my Dr. because I'd put down on my medical forms that I had a past history of anxiety problems, I'm currently receiving no treatment and not had any issues for quite some time. I had now left my previous job and subsequently missed the provisional start date.

Nearly a month on and I'm still waiting to start, I have since been back to Occupational Health with the Dr's report and they now want a report from the hospital, something which is proving easier said than done.

As I'm sure you understand, a month without work is difficult for anyone to deal with so I applied for benefits to help me through until I (hopefully) start. I've never recieved any benefits before so I must admit I have no idea what to do with regards to applying. I called the job centre this morning and was told that because I had already been offered a position, even on a conditional basis, and was waiting for a start date that I wasn't allowed to recieve any benefits.

I was hoping someone would be able to offer me some advice in terms of how I could go about claiming any type of benefit, (I'm 22 and live at home with my Mum and Step Father) or if anyone has any idea how long this type of report tends to take! I've called the hospital countless times and just keep getting sent in circles. This morning I was on the phone for 45 minutes and spoke to the same person 4 times!

Thanks for reading and sorry for such a long post.

cabbage

Hi, you have to be actively seeking work to get JSA and if you've been offered a job then you wouldn't be looking for other jobs. I would suggest council tax and housing benefit but as you are at home and not liable for these bills then these are out too.
As you are not too ill to work and not a single parent or carer or one of the categories of people that could claim IS that strikes out income support and ESA.
I do sympathise with your situation but I'm afraid that I can't identify any benefits that you might be entitled to. You could trying temporary work just to fill in while you wait for the Police and Hospital to get their finger out.

There might be some grounds legally if you've had an offer of employment via letter as it seems that an employment contract exists even before you start work. However, I would imagine if it says dependent on references/health checks then you might not be able to do something. I think you should ring acas for advice. Their tel no. 08457 47 47 47

Savvy_Sue

2 suggestions:

1. Sign on with as many agencies as possible.

2. Phone PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) at the hospital concerned, ask for them at the switchboard. Tell them the problem you are having getting this report, they should be able to help. One phone call to them, and within a week my consultant had sent off a form to the DVLA which had sat in my file for MONTHS!