Huge unoffical cut in work hours, what benefits can i get to survive?? :(

Angel89_2

Hi i recently managed to get a job.
Had to do a few moths of unpaid training which wasn't very good at all,
but have been doing it fulltime and paid for just over 6weeks now.

However the boss at my site didn't like me he had moved me to working at a different site that the company manages,
where since the team there was 1 person short due to someone having work-permit problems,
and so my manager had suggested to his manager that i could work there for abit as they could spare me for 1month.


Now this 1month is up though, and the guy has managed to sort out his work permit, he will be restarting here from the start of August,
and so i will be ending working here and should be going back to my orginal site.

However for the last 2days when ive asked my normal manager over the phone, and in email, if he could let me know what rota and shifts i will be doing next month,
since normall he publishes the future month's rota atleast 1week inadvance,
he has just keeps saying that hes ''very busy at the moment and so hasn't had a chance to yet, and that he 1st has to wait till i finish here, so he can then findout whats going on with the other guy''.

:huh:



I ofcourse cant live like that though,
since i get a low salary as it is, and have been given the bare minimum number of hours at just 36per week,
when all the other guys are doing 48hours+ as its meant to be 12hour shifts, but i only get 9hour ones.

And so ive had to draw up an extremely tight budget sheet that i now have to live my life by on that salary, that fits it down to very single £1 of income and expenditure.


I am already severly struggling to survive even on the 36hours pay,
so if it goes any lower than that and i simply endup starving and homeless as couldnt pay the bills!



Ive looked at the employment contract and it says ''The company doesn't specifiy a maximum or minimum number of hours that you will get each week''.

So this now means that i may likely only actually get 18hours of work for the entire month, if even that!! :mad::(:cry


I was previous getting Local Housing Allowance, and got a few weeks of JSA, but i stopped that after i started the upaid job training,
since i wasn't 'seeking work' then.


However if based on the current info that i have that from the 1st of August onwards i am employed but have zero work hours sheduled for me for the month,
what benefits will i be able to start getting???

And what proof will they require about this though??



Thanks

real1314

With all the other problems you've asked about, wouldn't you be better looking for a different job in the spare hours you may have if they cut your hours?
This job doesn't seem to be working out for you.

Angel89_2

real1314 wrote: »

With all the other problems you've asked about, wouldn't you be better looking for a different job in the spare hours you may have if they cut your hours?
This job doesn't seem to be working out for you.

Ive applied to over 2,000 jobs since March,
not even 1interview offered.

And these were low low paid basic level jobs that didn't even require A-levels, B-tecs, or past work experience (of which i have all).


I seriuous do hate my current job, but with unemployment rate hitting over 10% now trying to get any sort of job at all is ridiculously hard.

Emmzi

Angel89 wrote: »

Ive applied to over 2,000 jobs since March,
not even 1interview offered.

Angel, have you had someone look over your cv? No interviews in 2000 is statistically improbable if your cv is up to scratch and you have eg no convictions, haven't been dismissed etc.

Angel89_2

Emmzi wrote: »

Angel, have you had someone look over your cv? No interviews in 2000 is statistically improbable if your cv is up to scratch and you have eg no convictions, haven't been dismissed etc.

Hiya, yea i showed it to the job centre staff and posted it on here a few months ago.


I have no convictions, never been fired since, apart from my current job i was self employed for the last 1year and worked fulltime at that,
and then worked partime self employed for the 2years before that while at college.

And in addition to GCSEs, A-levels, B-tec, professional work experience from self employment in a few industries (1 very specific, but others reasonably broad based),
i also have 2years of partime charity work from when i was younger, which is combined with sales assistant experience.


For the 1st few weeks i was targeting mainly just security/public services jobs as thats the sector i want a career in,
and stockmarket trading jobs, since that was where i had my strong experience in, as id been doing it daily for a living for the past year.

But after about 2weeks of just targeting those sectors i then branched out and was applying for EVERY job that was within 1 n half hours train travel of me, and that didnt require a degree or specialist skills to do.


And so when your applying online you can send your CV to 100s of job vacancies in 1go.

Emmzi

100s in one go - suggests your cv/ covering letter is not targetted to the specific job you are applying for so very unlikely to get to the top of the pile.

I can only suggest fewer, tailor made cvs, specific to each job and highlighting your relevant experience. Quality, not quantity.

[Deleted User]

Really sounds like you need a new job and I appreciate thats not easy,however if you have retail experience then many of the big companies will be recruiting xmas staff shortly,argos bhs m&s debenham to name a few,might be worth contacting them.

Angel89_2

I had slight glimmer of hope today in that a job i applied for lastnight emailed me back today asking me if i had experience in '....', and if i knew the regulations about '....', and so im hoping that may lead to an interview.

(Its a decent looking job with salary of 20-24k per year).


However on more important immediate concerns-
My boss, who over the last 3days ive emailed 4x and phoned 3x,
and who said 3days ago that he would sort it out next day, yesterday said he would phone me today at 3pm to sort things out,
STILL hasn't phoned me or emailed me to tell me what rota and days i will be working next month (August)! :sad: :sad:


And so currently as it stands i have no income going to come in in August, and so wont be able to pay my rent or bills n food! :huh:_pale__pale__pale_



The company hasn't actually terminated my employment or said anything at all that they are intending on doing that,
but the only link we get to the main contractor company is through the regional department boss, whos just not saying anything.


But so does anyone know how much longer i have to wait before i can put in a claim for Housing benefit and JSA??

And what sort of document are they going to want as evidence that even though i have a work contract that shows i am employed for next 6months.
that im not actually getting any work hours for the month from them and so have no income??


Since i really really dont want to wait till the end of the 1st week of august, just to findout THEN that ive offically been made redundant,
and so only then have to wait another week before i actually even have my benefits claim in to be backdated to.



Thanks

Angel89_2

Ok ive still not got any email or calls from my boss to tell me what days and hours im going to be working this month!! :mad::mad: :sad: :sad:


I know he doesn't go into work on saturday or sundays so i will have to wait till monday to phone him again.


But when on monday he says-
''I will call the head office and findout whats going on with the other guy at the other site where you worked for the last month,
and il let you know once ive foundout....''

What forms or documents will housing benefit and jsa then ask for when i contact them later that day to start signing on and start a claim for LHA???


(I have a contract of employment that doesn't expire till 17th december, and i haven't had any letters or emails to tell me that the contract has been terminated).

So thats the only contract i will have to send the LHA people who are very unhelpful normally,
even when there aren't any complications like this.


So what will i need to do to prove to them that im not actually scheduled to be doing any work or getting any income in august,
even though i have a contract of employment that runs through august?? :huh::huh:



Thanks

Emmzi

um, why dont you make an appointment and ask them?