Be Reasonable JSA!

fivefingers

I am currently on JSA, have been for almost 1 month now, I have been given 2 jobs to apply for by the folk at the JC, one of them i have an issue with because its a 4 hour round trip per day to and back from the job. Hours are a little under 50 hours minimum wage, making my total time 70 hours per week. Deduct what i will spend on travel and you are getting somewhere near slave labour.

Does anyone have any links or information regarding your rights when on jobseekers?? There must be a reasonable limit for travel time? The other job i was gifted with was a 1 hour commute each way and although it is in the IT sector it relates in no way to my current skills and experience in the sector.

I guess some people may thing i am being 'fussy' and may want to flame me but i have standards.

My main issue i have with the frankly idiotic choice of jobs i was assigned is that there must be people in those areas that are looking for work? i know for a fact there is high unemployment in both of the areas where these jobs are.

Just seems crazy and unreasonable to me.

Kaleidoscope27

The JSA agreement (well, mine does anyway) states that you have to agree to travel up to 90minutes to work. It used to be 60 minutes but they up'd it a few months back. 2 hours there and back is excessive! Next time they offer you a job like that, just tell them that you can't reasonably add that sort of travelling time to your working week. Check your agreement with them and see if it states what your agreed travelling time is.

I'm not sure if this is right; but the jobs they give you at the job centre, I don't think you have to apply for them if you don't want to. I got given about 8 the last time I went in and she just said she was giving them to me to look at in more detail etc. I applied for some of them but rejected others for several reasons.

ses6jwg

2 hrs is ridiculous specially with price of fuel at the moment

Sunshine12

You can give them a minimum salary that you are prepared to accept so you wont be expected to apply for anything paying below that minimum. This only lasts for 6 months then you have to be seen to be more flexible.

donnajunkie

fivefingers wrote: »

I am currently on JSA, have been for almost 1 month now, I have been given 2 jobs to apply for by the folk at the JC, one of them i have an issue with because its a 4 hour round trip per day to and back from the job. Hours are a little under 50 hours minimum wage, making my total time 70 hours per week. Deduct what i will spend on travel and you are getting somewhere near slave labour.

Does anyone have any links or information regarding your rights when on jobseekers?? There must be a reasonable limit for travel time? The other job i was gifted with was a 1 hour commute each way and although it is in the IT sector it relates in no way to my current skills and experience in the sector.

I guess some people may thing i am being 'fussy' and may want to flame me but i have standards.

My main issue i have with the frankly idiotic choice of jobs i was assigned is that there must be people in those areas that are looking for work? i know for a fact there is high unemployment in both of the areas where these jobs are.

Just seems crazy and unreasonable to me.

the jobcentre has lead me to believe that i must be willing to go for a job upto 90 minutes away. it actually says that on my jobseekers agreement. does it say anything related to travel time on your jobseekers agreement?
the time to have brought this issue up was when they were about to be refer you for it. you should apply for it now to keep your jsa safe. if you really dont want the job because of the travel time you can either make your application not the best ever or if you get an interview just tell them you rely on public transport and cant get there for the start time. obviously they may say why are you here then. just tell them the truth and say the jobcentre gave me no choice but to apply and if i did not apply it would put my jsa at risk. there is a good chance you are worrying over nothing anyway as so many people are out of work you may not even get a reply nevermind an interview.

donny909

1 job I had when I moved to where I am now was about 3 1/2 hour trip travelling on public transport for just a 5 hour shift. The company could not understand why I felt this to be excessive and the job centre never supported that as being a reason to leave and go onto benefits untill my health improved.

I never knew they were guidelines for what the JC was able to make you apply for travel time wise.

donnajunkie

Kaleidoscope27 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is right; but the jobs they give you at the job centre, I don't think you have to apply for them if you don't want to. I got given about 8 the last time I went in and she just said she was giving them to me to look at in more detail etc. I applied for some of them but rejected others for several reasons.

it has only ever happened to me once were i have been given details for a job but not refered and in those cases you dont have to apply. if you are refered for a job then you are expected to apply for them and can get into trouble for not doing so.
they are totally incompetent. i got refered for a job one time and i did apply for it. a couple of months later i got a letter from the jobcentre saying i was refered for the job in question and why had i not applied for it. i told them the truth that i applied for it and got the application bounced back from royal mail with an addressee has gone away stamp on it. so they had actually refered me for a job at a company that had gone out of business.

donnajunkie

donny909 wrote: »

1 job I had when I moved to where I am now was about 3 1/2 hour trip travelling on public transport for just a 5 hour shift. The company could not understand why I felt this to be excessive and the job centre never supported that as being a reason to leave and go onto benefits untill my health improved.

I never knew they were guidelines for what the JC was able to make you apply for travel time wise.

yes but like one or two of us have said the requirement is upto 90 minutes away. it is always best to never tell them you have a car coz they will have you applying for jobs everywhere. if a job is too far away you can then say i wouldnt be able to get there early in the morning coz the first bus isnt at an early enough time.

IronMaidenFan

My JSA agreement (drawn up in Feb) states "look for jobs within 60 minutes travelling time from home address using public transport". I have a wage restriction but only for the first 13 weeks (that still doesn't stop them giving me jobs to apply for with the minimum wage, lol).

Indie_Kid

donnajunkie wrote: »

yes but like one or two of us have said the requirement is upto 90 minutes away. it is always best to never tell them you have a car coz they will have you applying for jobs everywhere. if a job is too far away you can then say i wouldnt be able to get there early in the morning coz the first bus isnt at an early enough time.

They'll tell to you get a taxi, use a bike or get a lift from someone.

custardy

i would say 2 hours is unreasonable
i think 1 hour should be around the max unless the wage reflects the times/cost
obviously minimum wage doesnt really count for that.
another factor for me would be chilcare
thats at least a 12 hour day on an standard 8 hour day,so i would struggle with getting my boy to/from nursery
meaning more costs