Help! Jobseekers Claim looked at for Work Refusal

kamecutie

Help! I've just came back from my usual signing-on and I'm on my 6-week review at the moment. My adviser then gave me a letter saying that 'a doubt has arisen on your claim to JSA as it appears you may have refused an offer of employment'. I'm really confused over this and scared because I can't remember if I applied for the job. But I was under the impression that I wasn't required to apply for all the jobs they give me or something. Please help! Should I tell them the truth? That I have no applied for the job because it didn't feel right or will that get me into more trouble?

Is this normal for all the JSA people out there? Or a rare case? PLease help me as I am scared I might lose my benefit over this. I'm thinking of going back today to tell my adviser about it.

Indie_Kid

How did the job not feel right?

kamecutie

hi sh1305! well it was a temporary job and during that time i had more interviews going on for me. i know it's a silly reason and will definitely get me terminated. im wondering what can i say instead?

sammyjammy

There isn't much you can say in defence as you don't really have one do you? Even though it was temporary and you were applying for others that may have been better long term a job is a job is it not? In all likelihood your claim ahs already been stopped whilst they look into it, you need t ogo back to the Jobcentre, you may be entitled to hardship payments.

If the Jobcentre give you details of jobs then you are expected to apply for them. If they tell you about a job which you do not want to apply for you need to give the reasons upfront at the time before they show the computer system you are applying.

kamecutie

sammyjammy: I guess you are right. But it also says here that my claim has not yet been stopped as I am given 7 days to come up with a good reason about it. My adviser doesn't even tell me to produce some sort of proof that I have emailed my CV to the employer. All he told me is to look into my book and see if it's there. This passive attitude gives me hope that since this is my first offense maybe I'll be off the hook? I will be meeting my adviser again next week and I will tell him that I didn't know that I couldn't refuse the job so I didn't bother applying for it as I had other jobs to look at that were better during that time.

Are they usually strict regarding the reasons behind the refusal of application for jobs or is this case to case basis? And if I am terminated with my JSA what do I do? Say I am alright with the termination (as i have been on JSA for 6 months already and im feeling useless as ever) do I still need to fill out paper works in the local center or is it a case of goodbye=and=forget?

sammyjammy

If you've been given 7 days then thats kind of new (sorry it's been a while since i actually worked on Frontline in a JC). Its anot a case of them letting you off the hook for a first time offence. You need to show "just cause" for not applying. The fact that the job was just temporary won't be enough, you could explain that you didn't realise you were agreeing to apply when you took the details and that this has never been made clear to you.

If you are receiving JSA means tested benefit then you may be entitled to the hardship payments (I think its a 40% deduction on your personal benefit) even if they disallow you for benefit. See here for details:

http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/money/benefitsandtax/jsacomplications

Oldernotwiser

If you've been asked why you didn't apply you should give the honest reason "it didn't feel right" that you've given here, rather than hoping that other members can come up with something more acceptable.

Sixer

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If you've been asked why you didn't apply you should give the honest reason "it didn't feel right" that you've given here, rather than hoping that other members can come up with something more acceptable.

But the OP clearly stated in their first post that they didn't realise they were supposed to apply for everything and that they had applied for multiple other positions.

Why should they explain only the reasons that will disadvantage them and not the justifications?

biggaz26

If you are JSA you should be forced to apply for everything and anything regardless...My current job 'doesnt feel right' but I can keep my head high as I have a job and not living of handouts!...Rant over!

G

dmg24

Sixer wrote: »

But the OP clearly stated in their first post that they didn't realise they were supposed to apply for everything and that they had applied for multiple other positions.

Why should they explain only the reasons that will disadvantage them and not the justifications?

The form asks for the reason they did not apply - they may write 'I did not realise I had to' if they wish to, but as they are claiming Jobseekers Allowance, this reason will not get them far!

Sixer

dmg24 wrote: »

The form asks for the reason they did not apply - they may write 'I did not realise I had to' if they wish to, but as they are claiming Jobseekers Allowance, this reason will not get them far!

Oh for heavens sakes.

"Why did you not apply for this vacancy when it was given to you by a member of staff?"

"Because the member of staff gave me many vacancies and I applied for X of them (please see my jobseeker book, which lists them, I can provide copy applications if needed). I had not realised I was required to apply for all vacancies given to me and I had more than met my obligations for the week. Staff did not make it clear I was required to apply for all vacancies passed to me. The job in question was temporary and I put my time and energies into applying for the permanent vacancies I was given."

This forum is *not* about advising people to get the worst possible outcome from the benefits system. It's *not* about picking the parts out of a poster's problem that will disadvantage them with the benefits system while ignoring the parts that won't.

Half the time, this forum looks like it's on a mission to achieve cuts in the benefits bill all by itself. Not that a wish to cut the welfare bill isn't a reasonable aim - but it's not the raison d'etre of this forum. It's not called "come here to see how we can distort what you say and advise you how to get a claim turned down".