Would this be classed as voluntarily making yourself unemployed?

seven-day-weekend

(I've also posted this on the Redundancy Board).

Right, I'll make it as short as possible.

My son works for a retail chain and there are rumours that redundancies are afoot. His contract is only for eight hours a week and although when he first worked there he got around 16-24 hours, for ages now all he has had is the eight. On minimum wage, this is less than Jobseekers' Allowance.

There may be a chance that some people will be redeployed to another store over the other side of town about five miles away. Now my son does not drive so he will have to spend money on bus fares (he walks or cycles to the job he has now).

My question is, if he is offered this on an eight hour contract, and turns it down because he can't afford the bus fares, and so gets made redundant, will the Jobcentre class this as voluntarily making himself unemployed?

He has worked for the store for two years and nine months.

Thanks in advance for the answers.

HappyMJ

No. You only have to make yourself available for full-time work on JSA there is no obligation at all to accept part time work. He can claim JSA now whilst still having the part time job as he is looking for full-time work. Any income (except £5) will be deducted from the JSA payment and he will also be gaining some experience as well.

seven-day-weekend

Yes, thankyou he did know he could sign on if he was working less than 16 hours and did so for a while, but sometimes his hours went over that and it was a pain in the neck having to keep changing, so he stopped. But his hours have only been eight a week for ages now.

So yes, he could actually sign on now, couldn't he?

unemployedJCP

I think he can claim - he will be entitled to sign on. Could possibly be sanctioned (not exactly the same thing as not being entitled i.e. too much capital etc.) but very unlikely.

What is likely going to happen is it being referred to a Decision Maker. It is best to cut all their time wasting techniques i.e. appealing to a sanction etc. by giving the facts up front (i.e. how much it would have cost for the travel if he kept on working Vs Jobseekers).

If they can see that he would be worse off working then they wont apply a sanction. As happyMJ states re: part time work ... plus 8 hours is seriously "part part time work" - it isn't sustainable.

bitsandpieces

It is a pain - but unless your son is earning enough to get his NI stamp paid, signing on could be worthwhile so that this is covered.

dookar

Would this be appropriate?

Claimants cannot leave employment at a time when they do not have any.
Claimants whose jobs were abolished have not left their employment voluntarily
even if they were offered or could apply for alternative jobs. But the DM may need to
consider whether they have refused employment or neglected to avail themselves of
employment.

seven-day-weekend

At the moment he is not earning enough to pay his stamp, so signing on would be good anyway, even if he is not made redundant. I think we'd all forgotten that someone could sign on if they were working less than sixteen hours a week.

Thanks all for your input.

unemployedJCP

NIC are important but lets not forget that you can always pay at a later date to top them up. If he is below the treshold for NI he would have already had a significant gap. Signing on would be a good idea in the short term.

seven-day-weekend

Thanks all for your replies.

He has (I think) nine years worth of NI and another 38 years before he reaches retirement age during which he has to pay another 21. So there is loads of time for that!

Thanks again everybody.