Refuse Work Placement on Flexible New Deal

Indie_Kid

speedfreek1000 wrote: »

They get nothing but their bus fares paid for in arrears.

Apart from the JSA plus the passport benefits?

Nickdolman

Good news is ive got a job

Ive gone back to being a courier self employed bit of a risk i know but hey its a JOB starts in 2-4 weeks depending on how long it takes me to find a decent van ive got a firm willing to take me on and guarantee me a weekly wage

Bad news is i still have to go on the course from 9-4 even though ive got a job

I rung them up and they have told me i need to join in and look for a job and if i dont they will stop all benefits and when im there i have to look for a job or they will stop my benefits and do as they say or they will stop my benifits WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

Will let u all know how it goes tomorrow should be intresting

GotNoMoney

I myself have got to start the 4 week "work placement" on Monday next week.

They gave me a choice - I could do either: a work placement OR: on site training, I just chose the on-site training as I have not got a clue where they would be sending me if sent on a work placement, I would rather not give them the pleasure.

Since they seem to be so in love with the idea of people working really hard for barely any money - they are going to have to deal with me at the centre itself for 4 weeks solid, it should be fun! :rotfl:

Last time around I was catching 2 buses to the work placement, plus, it was thirteen weeks last time around, if you're on this 4 week thing now then you're lucky its not just "New Deal" because I have been there and done it, believe me it is the most boring thing I have ever been subjected to. 4 weeks I think might just be tolerable, plus its not 2 buses away, its at the centre itself.

The thing is bus fares... I don't know if they pay anything towards it. Yes last time I got £15 a week extra, but thats been scrapped and is £0 now so, its going to cost me £11 or whatever a weekly bus pass costs... they used to refund all your bus fares except the last £4 which you have to pay.

I mean, I would just go on my bicycle but locking that up around that area is asking for it.

I do agree that people shouldn't be subjected to this treatment. What if all the computers in the training room went haywire? They would send us all home, right...... :j Baldrick.............. I have a cunning plan.

EltonJohnFan

I can only suggest you take this placement meanwhile and hopefully, something will come up soon.
I personally have worked free of charge simply so I could have some work experience under my belt for the future.

Completely understand that you have a family though, so that's different. Take care

rozmister

I think that work placements are a good idea. Working keeps your mind active and if you were successful and enjoyed your placement it boosts your self esteem which is good when you're applying for jobs. Obviously they aren't for everyone but I think the value of them isn't money it's other less tangible rewards. As someone mentioned lots of people volunteer for nothing just for the satisfaction it brings. Plus employers like to see that you've been doing something while you were unemployed.

GotNoMoney

The main problem is the fact that they are only paying people £65 (aka dole money/JSA) for 30 hours work.

That works out to £2.17 an hour.

No one has explained to me why this is "legal".

The National Minimum Wage is £5.93 an hour!

For 30 hours work it is illegal to pay anyone less than 30 x £5.93 which is £177.90 JUST A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE.

If I could get a job now earning £5.93 an hour I would take it, what these people don't seem to understand is - there are more unemployed people than there are job vacancies.

So we know it is a cast iron certainty that SOME people are not going to get a job, not because they don't want to but because the vacancy is not there to even apply for.

Is it really fair to sanction people who don't apply for jobs?

The Job Centre and all these companies they rig it with like Serco etc... are supposed to be finding us jobs, can you believe that? They ask me for a "job diary" when it is THEM that is supposed to be providing a service to ME. Otherwise, why does the job centre even exist? I mean you could just sign on via the post or something.

If they never suggest to me any jobs that might be suitable then where do they get off asking me for a job diary? They know there are not enough jobs to go around.

Kinda like taking a chocolate bar from a kid then saying to him "give me the chocolate bar" although you already have it.

Most people working in the job centre and these crappy "training" centres are dumber than the people signing on. In fact, I know this for a fact, I have seen it so many times.

I just worked out if you can get a job on NMW and its a decent 37.5 hour a week job (9AM to 5PM with 30 minutes for lunch break) then you will get paid at least £222 a week. That to me is like hitting the jackpot or something! My attitude is "What, all I have to do is work from 9AM to 5PM for 5 days out of 7 and get over £220 a week" but there are no jobs going, that is the problem, there are no jobs. One good thing about being on the dole is when you get off it and manage to get a job its like you hit the jackpot because it is so much more money. As for "working" I just see it as something to do all day, if you think of it as work then it will always seem like work.

cit_k

GotNoMoney wrote: »

I do agree that people shouldn't be subjected to this treatment. What if all the computers in the training room went haywire? They would send us all home, right...... :j Baldrick.............. I have a cunning plan.

Probably not, they could just give you some old newspapers, some sticky tape and tell you to make a paper brigde.
Or give you some books to colour in.
Or give you todays newspaper to read.

Or other useful stuff like they do on these course.

HappyMJ

GotNoMoney wrote: »

The main problem is the fact that they are only paying people £65 (aka dole money/JSA) for 30 hours work.

That works out to £2.17 an hour.

No one has explained to me why this is "legal".

The National Minimum Wage is £5.93 an hour!

Jobseekers allowance (65.45) plus housing benefit (91.00) plus council tax benefit (16.55) = £173.00 Earnings required to get that after tax and NI deductions would be £197.10 divide that by 30 and I work it out as £6.57 per hour...not bad and the bus fares are paid for too.

Jowo_2

GotNoMoney wrote: »

The main problem is the fact that they are only paying people £65 (aka dole money/JSA) for 30 hours work.

That works out to £2.17 an hour.

No one has explained to me why this is "legal".

The National Minimum Wage is £5.93 an hour!

...
I just worked out if you can get a job on NMW and its a decent 37.5 hour a week job (9AM to 5PM with 30 minutes for lunch break) then you will get paid at least £222 a week.

I can understand the slave labour concept of compulsory work experience when on JSA which appears to pay less than a third of the National Minimum wage.

But for the sake of playing devil's advocate, let's do a calculation from a broader perspective.

For example, a person has been on JSA for a year and a half before their placement, get a council tax rebate of £25 per week, plus housing benefit of £100 per week, plus £65 JSA.

Over the course of that time, they have been 'paid' nearly 15k from the public purse without lifting a finger. That's nearly £200 per week for 18 months without contributing anything back to society which has supported them. This means that when they do a 4 week work placement, they are in fact receiving the equivalent of £100 per hour (£15,000 divided by 150 hours of employment).

Even if they do not receive any additional HB/CT, even if their placement comes just six months after receiving JSA at the lowest rate, that's £1350 for that period.

They've been paid £51.85 per week without any requirement to provide labour for that six months, so when they do a 4 week work-placement for that rate of JSA, they are actually receiving nearly £12 per hour for that 4 weeks of employment during the 30 week period - twice the minimum wage -(if you include all the previous income which didn't have any conditionality attached that required them to perform any physical employment activities).

Actually, I can understand why someone on JSA who goes onto a work placement can feel cheated but there's seems to be a total amnesia about other benefits they are receiving, and all the payments to them that preceded their work placement.

In some US states, a person can claim unemployment benefit for 2 years maximum across their WHOLE life, not just a revolving door of brief employment, followed by years of unemployment benefit. Once it's used up, or if they prefer to 'save' it as a last resort, they are required to attend to attend either a FULL time supervised job search or community placement and their benefit gets docked if they are late or miss attendance. Now that's really harsh.

hry420

I am in week 4 of my 13 week new deal 25+ work placement working 32 hours a week for an extra £15. My big problem with this is that I am needed and without me someone would have to be employed, who done it before me another new deal placement but before him the job was done by a proper employee surely they can see taking jobs away is just pure stupid..