JSA virgin - advice please.

travelodger

sh1305 wrote: »

He'd rather be on £65 per week and sign on every 2 weeks instead of brining home around £200 per week?

I have absolutely no idea to whom this is referring.

My friend has been employed continuously for 33 years, and has been made redundant because his company is downsizing - hardly HIS fault!

travelodger

MaidMarianofNottingham wrote: »

I agree that travelodger has come in for some unnecessary flack by several posters.

Could your boyfriend investigate self employment in his profession, either as a consultant or set up a business in a consortium or as a sole trader?

THANK YOU Marian! The hurtful and unfair flak made me leave these boards for a while.

We've looked into that, and it would take a vast amount of money that he hasn't got, all to set up a shop in a climate in which his own boss has had to make HIM redundant because of lack of consumer demand.

dmg24

OP, this thread is from August - do you still have a benefits query?

travelodger

Voyager2002 "This debate is not helpful to the OP."

Thank you for sticking up for me.

He has applied for Council Tax benefit.

"his savings might push him over the threshold."

No savings, he is 6k overdrawn.

"He should ask to see an Employment Advisor at the Job Centre, and discuss possible alternative careers, and whether government funding would be available for any re-training required."

He did that 2 weeks ago. They said there is nothing they can send him on until he has been unemployed for 6 months, and for many schemes people aren't eligible until they have been on the dole for two years.

"I think he will find that a whole range of options exist in between the possibilities of working in his old profession and working on a check-out. At the same time, he should be aware that his employability will decline as his time out of work lengthens, so in the long run doing a menial job and then finding professional work might be a better idea than remaining unemployed until retirment."

He has applied for so many jobs I have lost count... lowgrade admin jobs at half his previous salary, call centres, loads of shop jobs, not just manager but absolutely anything. He hasn't even been offered a single interview.

Oldernotwiser

travelodger wrote: »

"He should ask to see an Employment Advisor at the Job Centre, and discuss possible alternative careers, and whether government funding would be available for any re-training required."

He did that 2 weeks ago. They said there is nothing they can send him on until he has been unemployed for 6 months, and for many schemes people aren't eligible until they have been on the dole for two years.

There are plenty of ways of retraining that don't involve being sent on courses by the JCP. Your friend should see what's on offer at his local college and/or make an appointment to see a Careers Adviser.

travelodger

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Your friend should see what's on offer at his local college and/or make an appointment to see a Careers Adviser.

I shall certainly pass that on to him. Thank you!

I'm sorry we sound so dumb but neither of us has been on JSA before.

Oldernotwiser

travelodger wrote: »

I shall certainly pass that on to him. Thank you!

I'm sorry we sound so dumb but neither of us has been on JSA before.

You're not dumb, the EA should really have referred him; Nextstep Advisers often work out of the Jobcentre although you can make an appointment direct.

https://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

tts42010

travelodger wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies.

We're hoping he won't be on the dole for 6 months so hopefully it won't come to it.

Another question, he has worked all his life in one profession for which he trained and qualified in the late 1970s, but which has only a small handful of vacancies in each town. There are currently no vacancies in his town nor are there likely to be in the near future (he's contacted ALL possible employers) until someone dies, retires or moves towns. There are currently four vacancies nationwide, but none within commuting distance.

Will the jobcentre expect him to (on pain of losing benefit):-

1. Change professions in his 50s.

2. Sell his flat and move to wherever the work is, leaving his elderly mother and his girlfriend (me!) behind?

3. Take any minimum wage job in the area.

I'm confused, you say he is your single friend but here it says your his girlfriend?

Jaxb_2

I believe she means single in the offical 'form filling in' sense where you options are single, married, co-habiting etc. as for as JSA would be concerned as he is living alone he is classed as 'single' if he and the OP were living together that would change things

MX5huggy

travelodger wrote: »

He has applied for so many jobs I have lost count... lowgrade admin jobs at half his previous salary, call centres, loads of shop jobs, not just manager but absolutely anything. He hasn't even been offered a single interview.

His CV needs a serious look at then, needs to identified transferable skills. Not I am a great Widget designer and make great widgets when he is applying for non widget jobs.