Well here goes.. feeling hopeless

lady_fuschia

Although I'm not one of the "experts" on here, I've been reading this thread with interest and it occured to me- you've mentioned registering with agencies, but not getting far due to lack of office experience. Have you tried checking out some of the agencies that recruit for factories and warehouses? The amount of work available will depend on where you live, but its worth looking around. Usually you can get very simple (if boring) jobs doing things like assembling boxes, putting junkmail in envelopes (yes its done by hand!) and they don't ask for any experience and aren't especially bothered about your past, or any future plans. You normally get very short term assignments to do work in a specific place (I once did just a week in one place)- its not really a long term career plan, but it will help to tide you over money wise, and improve the look of your employment history. Pay varies a lot, but if you're willing to do night or early morning shifts you can earn a fair amount.

Seeing as you're keen on cleaning, there are also commercial cleaning agencies in most areas who may have vacancies. Some are fussier than others, but I have friends who've done it: including one who walked out of her last job in the middle of a shift, and another who had never had any kind of job before at all. Check if there is anything like that in your area (Phonebook is a good place to start) and contact them directly. Obviously you could try setting up on your own with a card in a shop window, or ad in local paper, but you would need to register as self-employed, deal with buying and transporting your own equipment etc- which may or may not be too much for you whilst you're still feeling a bit "tender".
Also, I'm not sure what you meant about voluntary work affecting your JSA- I've never heard of that before, are you sure? Voluntary work would be a great way to build an employment record, even if its only 2-3 hours a week.
Bar or waitressing work, hotel housekeeping or washing up in a restaurant may also be worth looking out for. Most ads will say "experience preferred" but don't let this put you off. Many places will be desperate because of high staff turnover in catering. If you seem enthusiastic they may well give you a try.
Your confidence seems to have taken a bit of a knock, and it sounds like this is affecting your view of your own employability. Very few people are totally unemployable, don't assume "Oh I'd never get that." when you see a job you'd like advertised: just go for it; eventually you may suprise yourself.

seven-day-weekend

>>voluntary work affecting your JSA<<

Yes, it does. My son did some voluntary work for a charity over a Bank Holiday weekend and had his JSA stopped as he wasn't 'available for work'.

He told them that if any work came up, he would stop doing the voluntary work, but it cut no ice.

seven-day-weekend

They did re-instate his JSA after the weekend (Thursday-Monday) though, but he lost nearly a week's money, plus the delay in getting a new claim going.

lady_fuschia

OK, I didn't know about that. Useful info to bear in mind though. I'm assuming you could still do a few hours in the evenings or weekends up to a point though?

Floss

https://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk says the following:

What if I start voluntary work?
(Voluntary work can be anything from being a good neighbour to working with charities or other organisations such as social services departments. Volunteers give their time without pay, but they may get reasonable expenses.)

You can do as much voluntary work as you like. Your JSA will not usually be affected as long as:

You are still looking for work as agreed with your adviser
You can be contacted quickly if the chance of a job comes up, you are willing to go for an interview within 48 hours notice and able to start work within one week
You do not receive any pay other than to pay for expenses like fares or special clothing you need for the voluntary work
It is reasonable for the person or organisation you are doing the voluntary work for not to pay you.
If it is unreasonable for them not to pay you, we will reduce your JSA by an amount you could expect to be paid for the work you are doing, even though you are not being paid.

You must tell your Jobcentre Plus office, Jobcentre or social security office if you do any voluntary work. You must also tell us if you are paid in any way. This includes things that are sometimes called payments in kind, which could be something like meal vouchers.

johanne

Just to put a downer on the day my boyfriend just been threatened with court action today if he didnt pay off £900 of mortgage arrears to nothern rock.... spoke to my parents and they have said he can lend it off them (so we both have a roof over our heads as im movin in his house at the end of the month and have nowhere else to go) so ive just had to speak to nothern rock and put it on the credit card that i share with my parents (sainsburys one) and then will BT it across to capital one card of my dads which has my debt on (0% on BT till sept 2007) :rolleyes: I asked could they agree a repayment plan of say £300 each month for the next 3 months ontop of the normal mortgage but they said noooooooo only payment in full or see ya in court basically!

Still cant find the bloomin Focus reciept either for the kitchen cabinets :mad:

lady_fuschia

Oh dear that's a real downer- big hugs (not that I imagine that's much use)

It's very rare that somewhere won't agree to a payment plan - seeing a sthey would rather have the money in installments than not at all. If he can't afford £900 in a lump sum that's it, he can't pay it. I would get him to really push the idea of installments. Like I say, I'm no expert, maybe someone else can advise on the legal side, but I have never known a company refuse to accept installments.

MrsTinks

Sorry just catching up

Right if they claim gross misconduct but failed to inform you properly then get your little tush down to CAB with as much documentation as possible AND do a diary type thing so they have the exact time line of when theings happened. Sorry but they have no right to fire you whilst long term sick if on a doctors notice as Gross Misconduct. Serious no no. I would look into unfair dismissal if I were you

If firing staff was THAT easy then trust me I'd have weeded out at least another couple of mine by now

johanne

Thanks for all the replies..

Just a quick update... cant find the reciept for these bloomin kitchen units we dont need! Bought them on 18th June so need to find em quickly to be in the 30 day returns thingy..... BUT were starting to wonder if we take them back as they are clearly from focus... and we can prove we bought something of high value from there in last 30 days (by my CC statement) they might be able to look it up on the system and find our transaction and maybe give us the refund that way? Or even a credit note for the £115.... which can easily be spent as we need to buy a new ceiling for the kitchen, floor tile adhesive, small amount of tiles for a splashback.. and a light fighting to finish the kitchen off so the £115 in credit note form wouldnt be a problem! Hmmmmm...

johanne

Yay Yay Yay!:j :j :j :j :j

Still couldnt find the reciept but went to focus with my credit card statment print out and asked for a refund.....but expecting a credit note at best...:rolleyes: They checked the system to find our transaction and then come back and said they "wouldnt usually do this.. but.." and gave us a full refund of the £115 back onto my credit card!

Im soooo happy.... theres £115 less to find to pay off my debts!