Vr & jsa

mummytwinton

Can anyone tell me if I take VR (forced no choice) will I be able to claim jsa OR any other benefits?

I've worked for the same company since leaving school, 20 years in april, so never claimed benefits so not sure what to do for the best.
I'm waiting to find out when my job will go, it could be any time between April & December? I will get a good pay out of about 47 weeks pay part time thou so not a massive amount.

getmore4less

VR makes no difference, the reason for dismisal is still redundancy so no change to the benifits claimable.

Contributions JSA as long as you are looking for work.

Other benifits usualy means tested.


How can they force VR, you just wait and then they have to keep paying you or make you redunant

Make sure you get your at least your min 12 weeks notice

mummytwinton

its a case of no job where I work from some point next year & the nearest place I can work for the same company is over 90mins drive so too far.

we will be given a choice to take VR or say you want a job but then if i turn down a job i lose the extra payment in the VR package to stuck either way?

sagalout1954

If you have been paying NI for the last couple of years you will qualify for Contribution based JSA - makes no difference how much dosh you have (or even if you have working partner), your savings/household income doesn't feature at all (unless you have a pension over a certain amount - mine was a mere £100 per month so didn't disqualify me from claiming cont based JSA).

It will be for 6 months and is £65 per week (after that I gather it becomes income based). Gets a bit tiresome having to 'sign on' fortnightly, which drops to weekly part way through. You will also have to show you are indeed 'job seeking', though my JC never really bothered much with that, I had to fill in a silly diary booklet and take it with me, indicating what I'd done to find a job (ie sent CV or application here or there, spent xxx amount of time on such and such website jobseeking, looked through this or that newspaper etc). No evidence to go with it, just my word on the diary, advisor barely looked at it!

I was genuinely jobseeking, but I still padded it out with stuff I hadn't actually done - or rather, I'd spent longer doing something than I actually had. I also put down every bit of training I undertook to help me in my search (ie CV and interview skills, a job club I attended, all that type of stuff).

While you're waiting for the chop, take advantage of any training opps with your current employer, and start finding out about external freebie training to help with your job searching. There was loads where I live - and I used it.

PS For the first 3 months you don't have to look for anything which is less money, more hours, or in a different field of work than you were on/in before. After that they expect you to broaden your horizons.

janetv

The rules changed about 3 and a half years ago, shortly after I took a VR package. Shortly after OI left work I was offered a place on a full time retraining programme and then went back into employment, so was never subject to the new rules.