Can you refuse job applications that the jobseekers set you up for?

J-Pop

Hello,

I have worked since i left school 20 years ago getting up at 5am every morning and hardly missed a day through sickness.

I have been unemployed now for 3 months and the jobseeker people are expecting me to apply for any old job that is available, i want to work but there is nothing there.....i am getting asked if i have transport (which i don't....then they print out a job application for me which is about 15-20 miles away!)

I was starting to get my debts into control before i was made redundant and now have payment protection starting but i am being sent for low paid jobs that would not even pay my bills never mind feed my family......can i refuse a job because of this?

I am not lazy, i have started taking some microsoft certified courses to get the certificates for the IT stuff i know and am paying for a Japanese language course and doing some voluntary PC repair work but the jobseekers don't seem to be interested in that.....only wanting to push me out to any job available....and it is affecting my study now that they want to see me every week for the next month.

I would like some time to study and let my PP cover my debts until something comes up but this jobseekers is starting to stress me out just now.

Thanks for reading.

dugdale_2

There's a clue in the name of the benefit that you're claiming, Jobseekers allowance. If you're not prepared to actively seek work you are not eligible for Jobseekers allowance. If you're not receiving Jobseekers allowance would your PP continue ?

ceridwen

Re them printing out job applications for jobs 15-20 miles away - they would do so. Reason - according to their rules jobseekers are expected to take a job that sort of distance away. In fact I believe jobseekers are expected to travel up to 90 miles away to get to a job (pretty sure its that long a distance???? - I know I remember thinking ":eek:SURELY they couldnt possibly expect someone to go THAT far for a job?"

I think there is an assumption made that people will have cars. I believe I'm right in thinking that they arent able to make quite such unreasonable criteria for people who have to use public transport to get to work (think they might then be able to base travel on the amount of TIME used to get to work - rather than the DISTANCE??).

Is there anyone here who can give a link to the exact criteria of what is considered reasonable distance (for a cardriver) or reasonable time to get there (for a public transport user)?

I DO know that people are expected to pay out quite a lot (even from NMW jobs) towards the cost of petrol or fares - as no allowance seems to be made for the fact that the lower the wage the shorter the distance one can reasonably be expected to travel to get to it. We've had plenty of people on here complaining about how high a level of travel costs they are being expected to pay to get to work - from a salary that isnt high enough to cover it.

ITRW - the only realistic thing to do is to apply for every job they send you for (even if its not one any reasonable person could be expected to take) and, if its not a suitable job, then deliberately fail the interview. Yes - I know - its a right waste of both the employers and the would-be employees' time - but thats how the system is set up at present.

Person_one

When I was on JSA my agreement said an hour's travel time whether by car or public transport, as I didn't have a car but would have got one for the right job.

However, OP if you aren't genuinely interested in working right now maybe you shouldn't be claiming JSA. Wait until you're ready to start looking seriously and then go to the job centre.

DCFC79

if your on jsa then you need to be actively looking for work which i believe should be your main priority, you need to go by the rules but if you cant abide by them then stop teh jsa,

shikoku

It's 90 minutes not miles, still ridiculous for a part time minimum wage job.

dugdale_2

For JSA customers at stage 1 of their claim (first 13 weeks) the expectation used in the Jobcentre in which I work is that a jobseeker must be prepared to travel up to one hour from home to work by public transport. The imaginary clock starts ticking the moment the jobseekers leaves their home and would include waiting for a bus etc.
After 13 weeks the expectation is that the customer would extend their geographical job search area to 90 minutes travel time by public transport. This travel to work area is recorded on the Jobseekers agreement and could be used by a decision maker if a suspicion of not "actively seeking" arose.

Sambucus_Nigra

J-Pop wrote: »

I would like some time to study and let my PP cover my debts until something comes up but this jobseekers is starting to stress me out just now.

So, sign off for a while then?

Or apply for the jobs that they give you. It's called 'playing the game' - hardly any of those jobs actually exist - so just apply if you want the JSA money.

RacyRed

Sorry to go a little off topic, but be very careful with the training.

When I was on JSA I was honest about having to do some studying each week as required by the professional body I'm a qualified member of. JC+ didn't like it and constantly queried it, even though I explained that I had to do this if I was working or not or I risked losing my qualifications and my prospects of being employed again were massively reduced without them.

A friend was constantly being asked by JC+ to apply for jobs which were related to, but not the same as, the work she was experienced in. Different training and skills were required. She bit the bullet and used some savings to pay for a week long course which gave her a basic qualification in the skills that there were some vacancies for.

Her JSA was stopped for that week because it wasn't a course organised by JC+.

Yes I know that for that one week she wasn't fully available to seek work, but..... :mad:

Being self motivated and trying hard to make yourself as employable as possible CAN work against you.

ceridwen

shikoku wrote: »

It's 90 minutes not miles, still ridiculous for a part time minimum wage job.

Thanks for that - I knew "90" came into it somewheres...

Personally - I'm in such a lowly-paid type of job that I wouldnt spend 3 hours a day commuting to and from it even though I'm full-time. For a low level of job I dont feel its worth it - even if the transport costs are paid (unless you're lucky enough to have a job you actually like - when you might possibly be able to "work your life round your job" - ie because your job WAS your life).

dugdale_2

I believe most payment protection policies need to be authenticated by Jobcentre Plus every two weeks, if the OP does sign off to allow more time to be spent studying I doubt the policy would pay up.

My concern is that if the OP is complaining that visiting the Jobcentre once a week is interfering with his/her studies his/her availability for work might be an issue. This could result in a sanction of JSA which could mean an end to the PP payments.