Be Reasonable JSA!

marydot

When I was claiming JSA. I applied for every job the adviser gave me. They do check as everything is on record, one time when I was signing on they showed me a list of jobs that were given to me I had to put yes or no in a check box to say if I had applied or not.

IronMaidenFan

sharski wrote: »

Hmm........... so I suppose none of you have ever asked advice on this forum....... advice from one of the many JC staff who willingly give part of their spare time to actually assist people on this forum?????

No... obviously not...

I asked last week at JCP why they kept looking/printing off jobs that paid NMW even though I have a wage restriction in place - their reply "oh I didn't see that". The lack of interest/contempt that a lot (not all) of JCP staff show in job seekers is quite evident, as per the remarks on this forum.

oldmotherreilly

When you are seen at the new claims stage, you agree to a Jobseeker's
Agreement where it will state that you must be willing to apply for a job up to and including 60 minutes from your home address and this is by any means of transport that is available to you. This will be extended to 90 minutes if you are still out of work after 13 weeks, when you will be interviewed again and your Jobseeker's Agreement will be revised accordingly. These areas of JSA are non negotiable and so if you do not agree, your claim would be referred to a Decision Maker under the heading of 'disputed JSAg) and your JSA would be suspended until a decision had been made by the Decision Maker. Also at the new claims stage, you would have agreed what type of work you are looking for and for what salary-if you wish to limit yourself to looking for your normal job at your normal wage, the maximum time limit that the advisor can agree to your doing so is 13 weeks. After this time you would be expected to look for other types of work but as a previous poster said, as long as you can prove that those jobs exist at the rate of pay, the advisor can allow a further 13 weeks for you to look for work at that rate of pay. After months you must agree to look for work at national minimum pay or your claim would be referred to the Decision Maker under 'disputed JSAg' and restricted availability-if your claim is disallowed, you run the risk not receiving any JSA (you would be able to put in a claim for hardship but there is no guarantee you would get that.
Once you have agreed to apply for a job and have been submitted to the vacancy on the computer, if you do not apply and the job meets the criteria specified on your JSAg, the claim would be referred to the Decision Maker for 'refusal of employment'. JSA can be disallowed for any period up to 26 weeks for this (equally if they consider that you had just reason for not applying they may not stop it at all and 'allow' the question). If you state that you did not apply for the vacancy due to travel restrictions (ie beyond the 60/90 minutes), the DM will check this and if they confirm this, would allow the question.
I know this is long winded but hope it answers your questions!

willworkforfood

the last couple of times I've signed on theres been the same single job (for a plumber) in the whole of the north west:cool: and that need a gas safety card which I dont have - didnt know things were that bad

dookar

fivefingers wrote: »

Does anyone have any links or information regarding your rights when on jobseekers?? There must be a reasonable limit for travel time?

Sorry to break up the party, but to actually answer the question

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/decision-makers-guide/#vol6

Chapter 34, paragraph 34441 et seq apply

34441 Claimants will not have good cause if they refuse or fail to apply for or accept
employment because of the time it would normally take for them to travel from their
1
homes to the places they will have to work and back .
1 JSA Regs, reg 72(6)(b)
Exceptions
1
34442 A claimant may have good cause if any of the following circumstances apply
1. the travelling time is normally
1.1 one hour or more each way where the claimant is in the first 13 weeks
of entitlement to JSA or
1.2 one and a half hours or more each way where the claimant is outside
the first 13 weeks of entitlement to JSA
by a route and means of travel which is appropriate to the claimant’s
circumstances and to the employment or
2. the travelling time is otherwise unreasonable because of
2.1 the claimant's health or
2.2 any caring responsibilities the claimant has (see DMG Chapter 21).
1 reg 72(6)(b)
Each way
34443 If the journey to work would take one hour or more or one and a half hours or more,
and the journey home would take less than one hour or one and a half hours (or
vice versa), the claimant may have good cause and the DM should take it into
account.
Normally
34444 If a journey normally takes less than an hour or one and a half hours, but may
occasionally take more than an hour or one and a half hours, then the claimant will
not have good cause.
Travelling time
34445 Travelling time
1. includes the time spent waiting for transport connections after the journey
has started
2. does not include any time spent waiting between the end of the journey and
the start of work or vice versa, for example because the first convenient bus
or train home leaves a long time after the working day would end. But if such
a delay is very long, then the DM can take it into account as in DMG 34496 -
34499.

Sunshine12

sharski wrote: »

Hmm........... so I suppose none of you have ever asked advice on this forum....... advice from one of the many JC staff who willingly give part of their spare time to actually assist people on this forum?????

No... obviously not...

You are surely not suggesting that job seekers should have to post on a public forum to complete strangers because they cant get their questions answered in the actual job centre? I commend anyone who is on here trying to help however that isnt the point, is it.

fivefingers

^^ Thanks for all the informative replies, much appreciated! :beer:

I suppose they could ask me to get a taxi to the job but the fare is at least £25 quid each way which is more than i would take home so its still unreasonable. @Dookar, thanks for that link... reading now.;)

I had no idea i had any rights to apply for jobs of a certain wage? Is it possible to renegotiate the terms of your jobseekers agreement? (i am guessing not) - looking back i feel i was somewhat coerced into accepting very bad terms. I really wish i had done my research on JSA before making my first claim, i normally research everything!

If anyone else comes across this post who is about to make a claim please check this link: http://jobseekersadvice.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/jobseekers-agreement/
It basically tells you how not to get pushed around at the Jobcentre.

Sunshine12

fivefingers wrote: »

^^ Thanks for all the informative replies, much appreciated! :beer:

I suppose they could ask me to get a taxi to the job but the fare is at least £25 quid each way which is more than i would take home so its still unreasonable. @Dookar, thanks for that link... reading now.;)

I had no idea i had any rights to apply for jobs of a certain wage? Is it possible to renegotiate the terms of your jobseekers agreement? (i am guessing not) - looking back i feel i was somewhat coerced into accepting very bad terms. I really wish i had done my research on JSA before making my first claim, i normally research everything!


If anyone else comes across this post who is about to make a claim please check this link: http://jobseekersadvice.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/jobseekers-agreement/
It basically tells you how not to get pushed around at the Jobcentre.

When I signed on I made it quite clear that I wouldnt accept anything below X. They told me it didnt make any difference if they lodged that in their system or not so they didnt bother. When I went in for my 13 week meeting they told me that there was nothing on the system suggesting their was a minimum salary in place so I had to apply for suitable positions no matter what the salary. I demanded that they put one on at that point as I had specifically told them when signing on. They then changed my records to reflect the minimum salary requirements. They should have pointed this out to you (although cant say Im surprised they didnt) so if I were you I would tell them next time you are in that you mentioned your salary expectations when first signing on but were not made aware that a minimum could be noted on their system. Now that you have found out that this is in fact the case you want them to change their records to reflect this.

CBR

Hi there, I have just returned from the Job Centre having signed on. I have been advised that my JSA will be sanctioned as I am only applying for temporary jobs and nothing permenant.

Its like talking to a brick wall. I always go along with my job offer to prove that I have found employment and clearly explain to every advisor I see that I am undergoing Developed Vetting. As soon as I am DV cleared I will be given a start date.

They do not comprehend that whilst on my trial period with my last job(permenant position) my new employer required compulsory three years employers references. As you can imagine went down like a lead baloon and at the end of the trial period was asked to leave.

The advisor stated that I was being unreasonable. I suggested that the Advisor contact the Vetting Agency and complain to them on my behalf to speed up the process, but that was completely out of the question.

I would have thought that one civil servant would have gone the extra mile to help, especially as my new position is within the civil service.

oldmotherreilly

CBR, the JCP person cannot put a sanction on your claim-they can refer it to a DM for them to have a look at the question to see if it is reasonable for you to look for temporary employment whilst waiting for the references to come through. JSA will continue to be paid until the time that the Decision Maker makes a decision-if unfavourable, it would stop the JSA for a time they specify; if favourable, youir payment would remain the same. I would not consider it unreasonable for you to be applying for temporary jobs but I am not a Decision Maker.
Kaleidoscope, if you are still within the first 26 weeks of your claim and specified a minimum wage at the new claim, then you can indeed still specify a minimum wage, although as I said previously the wage would have to be reasonable for the type of work you are seeking . The advisor you saw would have access to your Jobseeker's Agreement from your previous office so would know if you had specified a minimum wage when you made your original claim.
However, as always, these are the things that are supposed to happen, not what always does happen in your local Jobcentre!