What is JSA under the hardship provision?

taralou

Nor really sure what all the fuss is about???? Surely the JCP's job is to get people INTO work??? There is enough news around about all the scroungers etc etc so when the JCP is actually doing something positive everyone on here is moaning!!!
On another note the OP can send his statement in and I would be more than 99% certain he will not receive a sanction. JCP are more than aware that a job is not viable if you cannot get there in the first place.
As for everyone saying it is illeagal, write to your pm or kick up a fuss, sorry won't make any difference. The idea of claiming JSA is that you are actively seeking work and therefore should be applying for anything that is REMOTELY suitable.
Next time you sign on be sure the screen is facing you and do not ask for any job to be printed unless you are sure you are going to apply for it. That way no problems!!:j:j

geordie_joe

Well I had my interview and it's not good news.

The woman said they can cut your money for up to 2 months for every vacancy you didn't apply for, if you can't prove good reason not to.

So that's me stuffed for the next year!

She said that I must apply for every vacancy they printout for me, it was explained to me when I first signed on and in the Job Seekers Agreement I signed.

I told her it wasn't explained to me, all I was told was I had to do a minimum of 3 things per week to look for work. She said it was in my JS Agreement and they should have gone through it with me before I signed it. I said they did go through it, but there was no mention of printing vacancies in it. I then took out my JS Agreement, gave it to her and asked her to show me.

She looked through it and couldn't find it, so said "Ah well, it's not exactly IN your JS Agreement, but it is part of it".

I gave up in the end, were just went round in circles, me saying I was told to do X, so I did it, and her saying you should have been told to do Y, but you weren't so you didn't do it so now you will be punished for it.

She did admit it wasn't my fault, but nothing can be done about that. So because the man who interviewed me when I first signed on didn't do his job properly, and because the man who I normally sign on with had not been doing his (putting the reason for not applying for jobs on the system when I told him) I am likely to end up out of pocket.

She also told me they are cracking down, checking everyone to find if they have ever "refused work".

Personally I think it's so David Cameron can say "There's no unemployment problem, people are unemployed because they have refused job offers".

geordie_joe

taralou wrote: »

Nor really sure what all the fuss is about???? Surely the JCP's job is to get people INTO work???

But this isn't designed to get people into work, it's designed to give the government an excuse for there being so much unemployment. i.e. because people are refusing job offers. Printing out a vacancy is not a job offer.

taralou wrote: »

There is enough news around about all the scroungers etc etc so when the JCP is actually doing something positive everyone on here is moaning!!!

I don't think this is a positive step, they are not helping me into work, they are punishing me for not doing something I wasn't told I should be doing. Keeping a record of jobs I didn't apply for.

taralou wrote: »

On another note the OP can send his statement in and I would be more than 99% certain he will not receive a sanction.

I have handed in my statement and we will see what happens.

taralou wrote: »

JCP are more than aware that a job is not viable if you cannot get there in the first place.

You are missing the point. It's no problem if you have good reason for not applying, but they didn't tell me to keep a record of the reason and they are now going back so far that I can't remember what the reason was.

I would have had a good reason for not applying for a job, but if I can't remember it then I lose money.

taralou wrote: »

The idea of claiming JSA is that you are actively seeking work and therefore should be applying for anything that is REMOTELY suitable.
Next time you sign on be sure the screen is facing you and do not ask for any job to be printed unless you are sure you are going to apply for it. That way no problems!!:j:j

That will reduce my chances of getting work.

I live out in the country with 4 towns/cities in a 30 mile radius that I can get too. But the buses here are really bad, the first bus to these towns/cities gets to the bus stations between 10 and 20 minutes to 9.00 in the morning. This means I would have between 10 and 20 minutes to get to work after getting off the bus (depending on the town/city). But, obviously they are big places and the job may require a longer journey after getting off the bus than I have time for, so I can't actually get to the job in time.

Most jobs round here are through recruitment agencies, and they only give the city as the location.

So if they advertise a job that is suitable for me, and say it is in Bournemouth there's a 60% chance I would never make it to the job in time. But there is a 40% I could get there in time, but I don't know which it is until the vacancy has been printed and I have rung to find out where the job is actually situated.

So what do I do?

geordie_joe

I would also like to say, they give you very little information about the vacancy you didn't apply for.

In my case all they gave me was the date, back in August and "Administrator, Poole, Temporary, £16,00".

I only remembered this one because it is the only temporary job I have applied for from printed vacancies. I remember it because I signed on with a different person that week and when it came up I said that "You don't see temporary jobs very often". He said "yes you do, if you tick the 'temporary' box when you do the search. When I next signed on with the normal man I asked about it and he said he never bothered to search for temporary jobs as he preferred to find me permanent work.

The thing is, they have printed 20-30 administrator jobs for me in Poole, only that one was temporary, and some of them I did not apply for. If the letter had said "Administrator, Poole, Permanent, £16,00" I would not have had a clue why I didn't apply for it, I would have had to say

It's either because

1. The bus doesn't get me there in time
2. The bus doesn't get me there at all
4. When I rang they said not to bother applying because the job needed a skill/experience I didn't have
5. When I rang they said they had already put forward the number of candidates the client requested.

Take your pick, those are the only reasons I have ever not applied for a job, but as to which one applies to this job, your guess is as good as mine.

Evilm

My advisor a few months ago said that they can print the job and mark it as "other" and not "matching" if you are not sure if you can get to it and not sure if you should apply. Apparently not applying to that would then not mean a sanction.

The thing that annoyed me is that they didn't mention using Taxis for transport to me and then marked me as needing "further monitoring" because I had supposedly refused to look at a job that would have left me better off even using a taxi each day. I was not pleased.

TCC_2

Of all JSA claims, they have to knock back so many a week (in our local office here it's 80 I believe) Of those 80, they must not permit more than a certain percentage to be allowed on appeal.

It is something along those lines!

Basically, they look for the slightest excuse and sanction you.

Think of claimants as a flock of scared wilderbeast and the JC staff as jackals waiting in ambush on either side picking off the lame and the weak!

November5th

One of the jobs printed out for me was really suspect so I investigated.
Job based in London, recruiter in Liverpool, really dodgy email address and a pay to call number.
It seems that this company is scraping job descriptions from other sites and using software that then repeat posts these jobs to all sites including the JC boards. They are looking to make money from getting your email address and people calling the premium rate number.
I mentioned this very nicely to my advisor.

Nowhere have I have ever seen that it is in the terms and condition of the jobseeker agreement that you apply for jobs that they print out. You only have to prove that your are actively seeking work that is available.

I would not have got any of the jobs they printed out for me, as even after many months they have not bothered to read my CV.

TCC_2

November5th wrote: »

Nowhere have I have ever seen that it is in the terms and condition of the jobseeker agreement that you apply for jobs that they print out. You only have to prove that your are actively seeking work that is available.

You may be correct but it is bad advice my friend as it goes against the ethos of you looking for work. In fact, they have in front of them a cast-iron example of you having a work opportunity available and you shunning it. :eek:

When you are in the office to sign on, if the staff look for a job for you or offer you a job vacancy (the 'printed out vacancy' as opposed to those you print for yourself from the cabinets) you HAVE to apply for that job or supply a reasonable(?) [I'd say compelling] excuse of why you couldn't or didn't apply. If you don't, it goes to a decision maker and onwards to sanctions.

Also, something else that is not realised, it is in your favour to get these 'print out vacancies' resolved on your claim. >important<

When you go back after 2 weeks to sign again, the staff should ask how it went with the previous 'printout vacancies' and you should tell them what you did to fulfill applying for same. The staff will then mark these PV as 'resolved' or 'actioned' on your claim.

You don't want any 'unresolved vacancies' on your claim. I don't know why it is the claimants fault if the staff don't ask you*, but I was told it is a 'bad thing' for you if you have unresolved vacancies on your claim.

* This may be staff being lazy or it may be them installing a cause for sanctions later on as I've been asked about a vacancy some 8-10 months after they give it me. I couldn't even remember the month, never mind the vacancy!!! The lad sorted it for me BUT for a moment there I was in a situation that could have led to sanctions. [Remember, there's targets!!!]

As I say, each Jobcentre has a target of JSA claims they need to dismiss each week and they (staff) in turn are getting their axxses kicked if they don't meet it. It is not about 'fairness', I think it is about making you want to work rather than sit on your backside.

The other thing you need to do is fill in that book.

NickyBat

TCC wrote: »

Of all JSA claims, they have to knock back so many a week (in our local office here it's 80 I believe) Of those 80, they must not permit more than a certain percentage to be allowed on appeal.

It is something along those lines!

Basically, they look for the slightest excuse and sanction you.

Think of claimants as a flock of scared wilderbeast and the JC staff as jackals waiting in ambush on either side picking off the lame and the weak!

oh please!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: