Am i able to refuse weekend work in accordance with my JSAg?

Joe_S

Hello all I am quite new to the forums, and like many people in the Uk i was made redundant and I am now looking for work.
However i do have a question, in accordance with my JSAg which dictates i am available for work any hours monday-friday particularly office work such as admin, personal assistant, filing clerk etc, etc. After the 13 weeks has passed am i able to refuse any weekend work should the JC advisor put it forward to me, as on weekends my commitments are my training in kung fu in which i have done for 3 years i also help out in the class on behalf of my teacher which is awesome and fun (i have a lot of passion and love for my training) anyway ive spoke to one person at the JC and they said yes even after the 13 week period you can refuse any weekend work as it is not in accordance with your signed JSAg, then i spoke to a couple of other JC employees and they said that if you refuse it will be passed to a decision maker. I dont know what the true answer is could someone please shead some light on the matter.

Kind Regards

Joe.

passatrider

I suppose you have to ask yourself what's more important, having a job or your social life?

oldmotherreilly

At the thirteen week stage you would see an advisor who would review your Jobseeker's Agreement to make sure that it adheres to the regulations-two aspects to this are that you are looking for more than one type of employment and that the hours you are looking for tally with the type of work you are looking for. If they consider that you are placing unreasonable restrictions in either of these areas then the claim can be referred to a Decision Maker. An example is that if you were looking for retail work but not prepared to work at the weekends, then this could be seen as potentially restrictive and could be referred to the Decision Maker to look at. However, if your advisor considers that your hours are reasonable and you both sign the Jobseeker's Agreement then it would be rare for anyone to try to refer a question if you were to refuse a job outside the hours you have agreed. The only case I have ever come across was when someone refused to apply for a job which ended half an hour after the hours they had stipulated on the JSAg-the Decision Maker considered this to be unreasonable and sanctioned the claim (a sanction means that no benefit is paid for a period of time decided by the Decision Maker).

Joe_S

Well clearly having a job with out a doubt, and god knows i have worked hard and paid my taxes and what not, however i am also aware that there are plenty of jobs out there Monday to Friday in which i have been applying for left right and
centre, hell i couldnt even care less if i had to work 2-10 which i habe done in the past, but on a another note my training is very important to me and i really enjoy it and have no intentions of giving it up.
Also i would just like to to say im not
sniping you or your comments in any way shape or form so please dont take my response as an act of agression. I was just wondering if anyone could help me.

Kind Regards

Joe

passatrider

Joe_S wrote: »

Well clearly having a job with out a doubt, and god knows i have worked hard and paid my taxes and what not, however i am also aware that there are plenty of jobs out there Monday to Friday in which i have been applying for left right and
centre, hell i couldnt even care less if i had to work 2-10 which i habe done in the past, but on a another note my training is very important to me and i really enjoy it and have no intentions of giving it up.
Also i would just like to to say im not
sniping you or your comments in any way shape or form so please dont take my response as an act of agression. I was just wondering if anyone could help me.

Kind Regards

Joe

Hi,

Sorry I did not mean it to come across the way I did, just re-read it back to myself!
Hope you find some answers though!:)

Joe_S

oldmotherreilly wrote: »

At the thirteen week stage you would see an advisor who would review your Jobseeker's Agreement to make sure that it adheres to the regulations-two aspects to this are that you are looking for more than one type of employment and that the hours you are looking for tally with the type of work you are looking for. If they consider that you are placing unreasonable restrictions in either of these areas then the claim can be referred to a Decision Maker. An example is that if you were looking for retail work but not prepared to work at the weekends, then this could be seen as potentially restrictive and could be referred to the Decision Maker to look at. However, if your advisor considers that your hours are reasonable and you both sign the Jobseeker's Agreement then it would be rare for anyone to try to refer a question if you were to refuse a job outside the hours you have agreed. The only case I have ever come across was when someone refused to apply for a job which ended half an hour after the hours they had stipulated on the JSAg-the Decision Maker considered this to be unreasonable and sanctioned the claim (a sanction means that no benefit is paid for a period of time decided by the Decision Maker).

thank you for your response i appreciate it. But i need to ask if mine was to go to a decision maker could i face a possible sanction even though my JSAg does state Monday to Friday

Joe_S

Pasatrider its ok thanks for clearing things up, i tend to misread things from time to time hahaha

oldmotherreilly

The JCP can refer any claim to the Decision Maker if they think that you did not have just cause in refusing to apply for a vacancy. However, an advisor has already agreed that the hours you have stated you are available for work are reasonable and I believe, would not sanction your claim. If the person you saw thinks that the hours you are looking for work are not reflected in the job market then what they should do is refer you to an advisor to have your Jobseeker's Agreement reviewed-in my opinion, referral to the Decison Maker for Refusal of Employment would be a non starter as a representative of DWP has agreed that it is reasonable for you to state that you are only available for work Monday-Friday.
No one would be able to give you a definitive answer as to the judgement of a Decision Maker-we can only offer an opinion. However, I hope this answers your question.

Joe_S

Well i do have a 13 weeks meeting on the 12/4/10 but i just find it so confusing that one job centre employee said that i am able to refuse weekend work and then another person says it will go to a decision maker if i refuse weekend work even if my JSAg does say Monday to Friday.
Im just not sure who to beleive. I was also hoping one day to open my own class at the weekends when i have got the necesary experience to do so.

oldmotherreilly

It can go to Decision Maker but, as I said, in my opinion a DM would not consider it to be unreasonable for you to refuse to apply for the vacancy. Have the Jobcentre issued you with a form called a 195? This would give you details fo the job you have refused to apply for and ask for your comments on why you did not apply. If they have, put down that the advisor has agreed to the hours on your JSAg. If you have not then they have not, as yet, referred you claim to the Decision Maker

Joe_S

Well my claim is up for review on the 12th of this month, and i will tell the ES that i wish to keep my agreement the way it is. And i was thinking the same, i was thinking if it was to be passed to a DM they would proberbly not
sanction me as i am agreeing ti work the stated hours and days on my JSAg. But as such i habe not received a 195 form yet as the ES have yet to offer me a job that involves weekends. I was just asking for
advise should anything happen.

Thanks to all who have helped me out i really appreciate it.
Lets hope im in a job shortly though.

Kind regards

Joe